ArticleMolecular biology and evolution2011
Rampant gene loss in the underground orchid Rhizanthella gardneri highlights evolutionary constraints on plastid genomes.
Article in Molecular biology and evolution, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 142 papers.
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142 citing papers in PubMed, 257 citations in OpenAlex.
- Phylogenomics Clarifies Plastome Reduction and Phylogenetic Relationships in Monotropoideae.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- From water to land: evolution of tRNA gene repertoires in photosynthetic organisms.The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- Vestigial Plastids in Parasitic Plants: Evolutionary Remnants or Adaptive Innovations?Plant, cell & environment · 2026Review
- Mitogenome characterization and organellar genome evolution in achlorophyllous orchid Chamaegastrodia shikokiana Makino & F.Maek. (Orchidaceae).BMC plant biology · 2026Article
- Comparative Chloroplast Genomics of Ten Collabieae Species Including Three Novel Genomes.Genes · 2025Article
- Discordance Down Under: Combining Phylogenomics and Fungal Symbioses to Detangle Difficult Nodes in a Diverse Tribe of Australian Terrestrial Orchids.Systematic biology · 2025Article
- Orchid phylogenetics and evolution: history, current status and prospects.Annals of botany · 2025Review
- Reverse genetics in the Arabidopsis chloroplast genome identifies rps16 as a transcribed pseudogene.The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2025Article
- De Novo Creation of Two Novel Spliceosomal Introns of RECG1 by Intronization of Formerly Exonic Sequences in Orchidaceae.Journal of molecular evolution · 2025Article
- The evolution of the plastid genomes in the holoparasitic Balanophoraceae.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Elucidating the evolutionary dynamics of parasitism in Cuscuta: in-depth phylogenetic reconstruction and extensive plastomes reduction.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- cpSNP discovery and genotyping for aPeerJ · 2025Article
- Organellar phylogenomics at the epidendroid orchid base, with a focus on the mycoheterotrophic Wullschlaegelia.Annals of botany · 2024Article
- Extensive import of nucleus-encoded tRNAs into chloroplasts of the photosynthetic lycophyte,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- The adaptive evolution of Quercus section Ilex using the chloroplast genomes of two threatened species.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Plastid phylogenomics reveals evolutionary relationships in the mycoheterotrophic orchid genusFrontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Phylogenetic position and plastid genome structure ofFrontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Comparative and phylogenetic analysis of Chiloschista (Orchidaceae) species and DNA barcoding investigation based on plastid genomes.BMC genomics · 2023Article
- Comparison of chloroplast genomes and phylogenetic analysis of four species in Quercus section Cyclobalanopsis.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Ancient Horizontal Gene Transfers from Plastome to Mitogenome of a Nonphotosynthetic Orchid,International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
82 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Since the endosymbiotic origin of chloroplasts from cyanobacteria 2 billion years ago, the evolution of plastids has been characterized by massive loss of genes. Most plants and algae depend on photosynthesis for energy and have retained ∼110 genes in their chloroplast genome that encode components of the gene expression machinery and subunits of the photosystems. However, nonphotosynthetic parasitic plants have retained a reduced plastid genome, showing that plastids have other essential functions besides photosynthesis. We sequenced the complete plastid genome of the underground orchid, Rhizanthella gardneri. This remarkable parasitic subterranean orchid possesses the smallest organelle genome yet described in land plants. With only 20 proteins, 4 rRNAs, and 9 tRNAs encoded in 59,190 bp, it is the least gene-rich plastid genome known to date apart from the fragmented plastid genome of some dinoflagellates. Despite numerous differences, striking similarities with plastid genomes from unrelated parasitic plants identify a minimal set of protein-encoding and tRNA genes required to reside in plant plastids. This prime example of convergent evolution implies shared selective constraints on gene loss or transfer.
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