ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2016
Mechanistic model of evolutionary rate variation en route to a nonphotosynthetic lifestyle in plants.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 123 papers.
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123 citing papers in PubMed, 247 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Losing genes, gaining edits: how relaxed selection and inverted repeat expansion shape RNA editing in Schizaeaceae plastomes.The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2026Article
- Progress and prospects of parasitic plant biodiversity genomics.Plant & cell physiology · 2026Review
- Characterization of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome ofBiology · 2026Article
- Plastid Genome Evolution Across the Roridulaceae-Sarraceniaceae Clade (Ericales) in Relation to Carnivorous Strategies.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Plastome evolution and phylogenomics of Glycine (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae).BMC plant biology · 2026Article
- Mitogenome characterization and organellar genome evolution in achlorophyllous orchid Chamaegastrodia shikokiana Makino & F.Maek. (Orchidaceae).BMC plant biology · 2026Article
- Phylogenomics reveals the evolution of floral traits associated with pollinators and pollinator-prey conflict within the carnivorous Pinguicula subgenus Temnoceras.American journal of botany · 2026Article
- Mycoheterotrophy and plastid genome evolution in the early-diverging epidendroid orchid tribe Nervilieae: independent transitions inAoB PLANTS · 2026Article
- Recombination and Retroprocessing in Broomrapes Reveal RNA-Mediated Gene Transfer Mechanism and a Generalizable Model for Mitochondrial Evolution in Heterotrophic Plants.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Repeated loss of plastid NDH during evolution of land plants.Annals of botany · 2026Review
- Selective regime shifts and intracellular gene transfer in the organellar genomes of the mycoheterotrophic orchidFrontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome ofMitochondrial DNA. Part B, Resources · 2026Article
- Mitochondrial genome evolution of the hemiparasitic plantFrontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Chloroplast genome sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the hemiparasitic plant:Mitochondrial DNA. Part B, Resources · 2026Article
- Comprehensive species sampling reveals pervasive pseudogenization and recurrent complete loss of plastid ndh genes in the genus Cymbidium (Orchidaceae).BMC plant biology · 2025Article
- Chloroplast Genome Characterization ofEcology and evolution · 2025Article
- High species discrimination inPlant diversity · 2025Article
- Comparative plastomes of fiveAoB PLANTS · 2025Article
63 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Because novel environmental conditions alter the selection pressure on genes or entire subgenomes, adaptive and nonadaptive changes will leave a measurable signature in the genomes, shaping their molecular evolution. We present herein a model of the trajectory of plastid genome evolution under progressively relaxed functional constraints during the transition from autotrophy to a nonphotosynthetic parasitic lifestyle. We show that relaxed purifying selection in all plastid genes is linked to obligate parasitism, characterized by the parasite's dependence on a host to fulfill its life cycle, rather than the loss of photosynthesis. Evolutionary rates and selection pressure coevolve with macrostructural and microstructural changes, the extent of functional reduction, and the establishment of the obligate parasitic lifestyle. Inferred bursts of gene losses coincide with periods of relaxed selection, which are followed by phases of intensified selection and rate deceleration in the retained functional complexes. Our findings suggest that the transition to obligate parasitism relaxes functional constraints on plastid genes in a stepwise manner. During the functional reduction process, the elevation of evolutionary rates reaches several new rate equilibria, possibly relating to the modified protein turnover rates in heterotrophic plastids.
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