An acyltransferase gene that putatively functions in anthocyanin modification was horizontally transferred from Fabaceae into the genus Cuscuta.

ABSTRACT: Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) refers to the flow of genetic materials to non-offspring, and occasionally HGT in plants can improve the adaptation of organisms in new niches due to expanded metabolic capability. Anthocyanins are an important group of water-soluble red, purple, or blue secondary metabolites, whose diversity results from modification after the main skeleton biosynthesis. Cuscuta is a stem holoparasitic genus, whose members form direct connection with hosts to withdraw water, nutrients, and macromolecules. Such intimate association is thought to increase the frequency of HGT. By transcriptome screening for foreign genes in Cuscuta australis, we discovered that one gene encoding a putative anthocyanin acyltransferase gene of the BAHD family, which is likely to be

SUBMITTER: Sun T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6112201 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature