The parasitic plant Cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination.
Around 1% of angiosperms are parasitic plants. Their growth and development solely or partly depend on host plants from which they extract water, nutrients, and other molecules using a parasitic plant-specific organ, the haustorium. Strong depletion of nutrients can result in serious growth retardat...
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015-01-01
|
Series: | PLoS ONE |
Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4530876?pdf=render |
id |
doaj-f53299d83ef04014986ca7a21acdbce3 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-f53299d83ef04014986ca7a21acdbce32020-11-24T21:24:38ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01108e013519710.1371/journal.pone.0135197The parasitic plant Cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination.Juan LiChristian HettenhausenGuiling SunHuifu ZhuangJian-Hong LiJianqiang WuAround 1% of angiosperms are parasitic plants. Their growth and development solely or partly depend on host plants from which they extract water, nutrients, and other molecules using a parasitic plant-specific organ, the haustorium. Strong depletion of nutrients can result in serious growth retardation and in some cases, death of the hosts. The genus Cuscuta (dodder) comprises about 200 holoparasitic species occurring on all continents. Their seedlings have no roots and cotyledons but are only string-like hypocotyls. When they contact suitable host plants, haustoria are formed and thereafter seedlings rapidly develop into vigorously growing branches without roots and leaves. This highly specialized lifestyle suggests that Cuscuta plants likely have unique physiology in development and stress responses. Using germination and seedling growth assays, we show that C. australis seeds and seedlings are highly insensitive to abscisic acid (ABA). Transcriptome analysis and protein sequence alignment with Arabidopsis, tomato, and rice homologs revealed that C. australis most likely consists of only four functional ABA receptors. Given that Cuscuta plants are no longer severely challenged by drought stress, we hypothesize that the ABA-mediated drought resistance pathway in Cuscuta spp. might have had degenerated over time during evolution.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4530876?pdf=render |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Juan Li Christian Hettenhausen Guiling Sun Huifu Zhuang Jian-Hong Li Jianqiang Wu |
spellingShingle |
Juan Li Christian Hettenhausen Guiling Sun Huifu Zhuang Jian-Hong Li Jianqiang Wu The parasitic plant Cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination. PLoS ONE |
author_facet |
Juan Li Christian Hettenhausen Guiling Sun Huifu Zhuang Jian-Hong Li Jianqiang Wu |
author_sort |
Juan Li |
title |
The parasitic plant Cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination. |
title_short |
The parasitic plant Cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination. |
title_full |
The parasitic plant Cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination. |
title_fullStr |
The parasitic plant Cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The parasitic plant Cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination. |
title_sort |
parasitic plant cuscuta australis is highly insensitive to abscisic acid-induced suppression of hypocotyl elongation and seed germination. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
series |
PLoS ONE |
issn |
1932-6203 |
publishDate |
2015-01-01 |
description |
Around 1% of angiosperms are parasitic plants. Their growth and development solely or partly depend on host plants from which they extract water, nutrients, and other molecules using a parasitic plant-specific organ, the haustorium. Strong depletion of nutrients can result in serious growth retardation and in some cases, death of the hosts. The genus Cuscuta (dodder) comprises about 200 holoparasitic species occurring on all continents. Their seedlings have no roots and cotyledons but are only string-like hypocotyls. When they contact suitable host plants, haustoria are formed and thereafter seedlings rapidly develop into vigorously growing branches without roots and leaves. This highly specialized lifestyle suggests that Cuscuta plants likely have unique physiology in development and stress responses. Using germination and seedling growth assays, we show that C. australis seeds and seedlings are highly insensitive to abscisic acid (ABA). Transcriptome analysis and protein sequence alignment with Arabidopsis, tomato, and rice homologs revealed that C. australis most likely consists of only four functional ABA receptors. Given that Cuscuta plants are no longer severely challenged by drought stress, we hypothesize that the ABA-mediated drought resistance pathway in Cuscuta spp. might have had degenerated over time during evolution. |
url |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4530876?pdf=render |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT juanli theparasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT christianhettenhausen theparasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT guilingsun theparasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT huifuzhuang theparasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT jianhongli theparasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT jianqiangwu theparasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT juanli parasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT christianhettenhausen parasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT guilingsun parasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT huifuzhuang parasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT jianhongli parasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination AT jianqiangwu parasiticplantcuscutaaustralisishighlyinsensitivetoabscisicacidinducedsuppressionofhypocotylelongationandseedgermination |
_version_ |
1725987203369140224 |