Horizontal transfer of expressed genes in a parasitic flowering plant.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recent studies have shown that plant genomes have potentially undergone rampant horizontal gene transfer (HGT). In plant parasitic systems HGT appears to be facilitated by the intimate physical association between the parasite and its host. HGT in these systems has been invoked when a DNA sequence obtained from a parasite is placed phylogenetically very near to its host rather than with its closest relatives. Studies of HGT in parasitic plants have relied largely on the fortuitous discovery of gene phylogenies that indicate HGT, and no broad systematic search for HGT has been undertaken in parasitic systems where it is most expected to occur.

Results

We analyzed the transcriptomes of the holoparasite Rafflesia cantleyi Solms-Laubach and its obligate host Tetrastig

SUBMITTER: Xi Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3460754 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature