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Programming desiccation-tolerance: from plants to seeds to resurrection plants
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa. Jill.Farrant@uct.ac.za
Current Opinion in Plant Biology
|April 23, 2011
Summary
Desiccation-tolerance (DT) evolved early in plants for land survival. Resurrection plants may re-activate ancient seed-specific genetic elements in vegetative tissues for DT.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Desiccation-tolerance (DT) is crucial for plant survival on land, first evolving in early algal ancestors.
- Early terrestrial plants like mosses and ferns exhibit vegetative DT, while seed plants lost this trait, incorporating tolerance into seeds.
- Seed DT mechanisms are linked to developmental maturation programs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review hypotheses on the genetic evidence for DT evolution in resurrection plants.
- To present evidence for the re-activation of seed-specific genetic elements in vegetative tissues of resurrection plants.
Main Methods:
- Review of current hypotheses on genetic evidence for DT evolution.
- Analysis of genetic elements in vegetative tissues of resurrection plants.
Main Results:
- Evidence suggests angiosperm resurrection plants may re-activate innate DT mechanisms in vegetative tissues.
- Strong evidence indicates the activation of seed-specific genetic elements in the vegetative tissues of resurrection plants.
Conclusions:
- Resurrection plants might have acquired vegetative DT by re-activating ancestral, seed-related genetic pathways.
- This re-activation provides a potential genetic mechanism for the evolution of DT in angiosperms.
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