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Reassessing the evolution of strigolactone synthesis and signalling

Catriona Walker, Tom Bennett
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/228320
Catriona Walker
School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
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Tom Bennett
School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
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  • For correspondence: t.a.bennett@leeds.ac.uk
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ABSTRACT

Strigolactones (SLs) are an important class of carotenoid-derived signalling molecule in plants, which function both as exogenous signals in the rhizosphere, and as endogenous plant hormones. In flowering plants, SLs are synthesized by a core pathway of four enzymes, and are perceived by the DWARF14 (D14) receptor, leading to degradation of SMAX1-LIKE7 (SMXL7) target proteins in a manner dependent on the SCFMAX2 ubiquitin ligase. The evolutionary history of SLs is poorly understood, and it is not clear whether SL synthesis and signalling are present in all land plant lineages, nor when these traits evolved. We have utilized recently-generated genomic and transcriptomic sequences from across the land plant clade to resolve the origin of each known component of SL synthesis and signalling. We show that all enzymes in the core SL synthesis pathway originated at or before the base of land plants, consistent with the previously observed distribution of SLs themselves in land plant lineages. We also show that the late-acting enzyme LATERAL BRANCHING OXIDOREDUCTASE (LBO) is considerably more ancient than previously thought. We perform a detailed phylogenetic analysis of SMXL proteins, and show that specific SL target proteins only arose in flowering plants. We also assess diversity and protein structure in the SMXL family, identifying several previously unknown clades. Overall, our results suggest that SL synthesis is much more ancient than canonical SL signalling, consistent with the idea that SLs first evolved as rhizosphere signals, and were only recruited much later as hormonal signals.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted December 03, 2017.
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Reassessing the evolution of strigolactone synthesis and signalling
Catriona Walker, Tom Bennett
bioRxiv 228320; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/228320
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Reassessing the evolution of strigolactone synthesis and signalling
Catriona Walker, Tom Bennett
bioRxiv 228320; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/228320

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