Single-copy nuclear genes place haustorial Hydnoraceae within piperales and reveal a cretaceous origin of multiple parasitic angiosperm lineages.

ABSTRACT: Extreme haustorial parasites have long captured the interest of naturalists and scientists with their greatly reduced and highly specialized morphology. Along with the reduction or loss of photosynthesis, the plastid genome often decays as photosynthetic genes are released from selective constraint. This makes it challenging to use traditional plastid genes for parasitic plant phylogenetics, and has driven the search for alternative phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary markers. Thus, evolutionary studies, such as molecular clock-based age estimates, are not yet available for all parasitic lineages. In the present study, we extracted 14 nuclear single copy genes (nSCG) from Illumina transcriptome data from one of the "strangest plants in the world", Hydnora visseri (Hydnoraceae). A ~15,0

SUBMITTER: Naumann J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3827129 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature