Elevated Rates of Molecular Evolution Genome-wide in Mutualist Legumes and Rhizobia.

ABSTRACT: Rates of molecular evolution vary greatly among even closely related species. Although theory predicts that antagonistic interactions between species increase rates of molecular evolution, predictions for how mutualism affects evolutionary rates are mixed. We compared rates of molecular evolution between (i) mutualistic and non-mutualistic legumes, (ii) an independent set of symbiotic rhizobia and their non-symbiotic close relatives, and (iii) symbiotic and non-symbiotic clades within Ensifer, a diverse genus of bacteria with various lifestyles. We assembled transcriptomes de novo for 12 legume species and calculated dN/dS ratios at orthologous genes in all species to determine if genes in mutualistic plants evolve faster or slower than in their non-mutualistic relatives. We also calculate

SUBMITTER: Harrison TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11632370 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature