Independent evolution of ancestral and novel defenses in a genus of toxic plants (Erysimum, Brassicaceae).

ABSTRACT: Phytochemical diversity is thought to result from coevolutionary cycles as specialization in herbivores imposes diversifying selection on plant chemical defenses. Plants in the speciose genus Erysimum (Brassicaceae) produce both ancestral glucosinolates and evolutionarily novel cardenolides as defenses. Here we test macroevolutionary hypotheses on co-expression, co-regulation, and diversification of these potentially redundant defenses across this genus. We sequenced and assembled the genome of E. cheiranthoides and foliar transcriptomes of 47 additional Erysimum species to construct a phylogeny from 9868 orthologous genes, revealing several geographic clades but also high levels of gene discordance. Concentrations, inducibility, and diversity of the two defenses varie

SUBMITTER: Zust T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7180059 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature