Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidus

Epiphytic ferns have been found to flourish after angiosperms dominated forest communities, and they play important roles in rainforest canopies. How do epiphytic ferns adapt to tropical rainforest canopy habitats? At present, we know little about the molecular mechanism underlying this adaptation....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jiao Zhang, Li Liu, Jiang-Ping Shu, Dong-Mei Jin, Hui Shen, Hong-Feng Chen, Rui Zhang, Yue-Hong Yan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-01-01
Series:International Journal of Genomics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/1429316
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849472790105686016
author Jiao Zhang
Li Liu
Jiang-Ping Shu
Dong-Mei Jin
Hui Shen
Hong-Feng Chen
Rui Zhang
Yue-Hong Yan
author_facet Jiao Zhang
Li Liu
Jiang-Ping Shu
Dong-Mei Jin
Hui Shen
Hong-Feng Chen
Rui Zhang
Yue-Hong Yan
author_sort Jiao Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Epiphytic ferns have been found to flourish after angiosperms dominated forest communities, and they play important roles in rainforest canopies. How do epiphytic ferns adapt to tropical rainforest canopy habitats? At present, we know little about the molecular mechanism underlying this adaptation. Asplenium nidus is a well-known epiphytic fern that is closely related to the terrestrial species Asplenium komarovii. Here, RNA-seq and comparative transcriptomic analyses were performed to explore the underlying basis of the adaptation of A. nidus to extreme environments. A total of 44.04 and 44.57 Mb clean reads were obtained from A. nidus and A. komarovii, respectively, and they were assembled into 89,741 and 77,912 unigenes. Functional annotation showed that 52,305 (58.28% of the total genes for A. nidus) and 45,938 (58.96% of the total genes for A. komarovii) unigenes were annotated in public databases. Genes involved in stress responses and photosynthesis were found to have undergone positive selection in A. nidus. Compared to A. komarovii, transcription factors related to stress response, leaf development, and root development were found to be considerably expanded in A. nidus, especially in the ANR1 subclade of MADS-box family genes which played roles in lateral root development. This study improves our understanding of the adaptation of A. nidus to epiphytic habitats by forming unique strategies.
format Article
id doaj-art-da6eee4a2b4d49ccaa584d3dcd08a62c
institution Kabale University
issn 2314-436X
2314-4378
language English
publishDate 2019-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Genomics
spelling doaj-art-da6eee4a2b4d49ccaa584d3dcd08a62c2025-08-20T03:24:25ZengWileyInternational Journal of Genomics2314-436X2314-43782019-01-01201910.1155/2019/14293161429316Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidusJiao Zhang0Li Liu1Jiang-Ping Shu2Dong-Mei Jin3Hui Shen4Hong-Feng Chen5Rui Zhang6Yue-Hong Yan7Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, ChinaShanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, ChinaShanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, ChinaShanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, ChinaShanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, ChinaKey Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, ChinaShanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, ChinaShanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, ChinaEpiphytic ferns have been found to flourish after angiosperms dominated forest communities, and they play important roles in rainforest canopies. How do epiphytic ferns adapt to tropical rainforest canopy habitats? At present, we know little about the molecular mechanism underlying this adaptation. Asplenium nidus is a well-known epiphytic fern that is closely related to the terrestrial species Asplenium komarovii. Here, RNA-seq and comparative transcriptomic analyses were performed to explore the underlying basis of the adaptation of A. nidus to extreme environments. A total of 44.04 and 44.57 Mb clean reads were obtained from A. nidus and A. komarovii, respectively, and they were assembled into 89,741 and 77,912 unigenes. Functional annotation showed that 52,305 (58.28% of the total genes for A. nidus) and 45,938 (58.96% of the total genes for A. komarovii) unigenes were annotated in public databases. Genes involved in stress responses and photosynthesis were found to have undergone positive selection in A. nidus. Compared to A. komarovii, transcription factors related to stress response, leaf development, and root development were found to be considerably expanded in A. nidus, especially in the ANR1 subclade of MADS-box family genes which played roles in lateral root development. This study improves our understanding of the adaptation of A. nidus to epiphytic habitats by forming unique strategies.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/1429316
spellingShingle Jiao Zhang
Li Liu
Jiang-Ping Shu
Dong-Mei Jin
Hui Shen
Hong-Feng Chen
Rui Zhang
Yue-Hong Yan
Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidus
International Journal of Genomics
title Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidus
title_full Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidus
title_fullStr Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidus
title_full_unstemmed Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidus
title_short Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidus
title_sort transcriptomic evidence of adaptive evolution of the epiphytic fern asplenium nidus
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/1429316
work_keys_str_mv AT jiaozhang transcriptomicevidenceofadaptiveevolutionoftheepiphyticfernaspleniumnidus
AT liliu transcriptomicevidenceofadaptiveevolutionoftheepiphyticfernaspleniumnidus
AT jiangpingshu transcriptomicevidenceofadaptiveevolutionoftheepiphyticfernaspleniumnidus
AT dongmeijin transcriptomicevidenceofadaptiveevolutionoftheepiphyticfernaspleniumnidus
AT huishen transcriptomicevidenceofadaptiveevolutionoftheepiphyticfernaspleniumnidus
AT hongfengchen transcriptomicevidenceofadaptiveevolutionoftheepiphyticfernaspleniumnidus
AT ruizhang transcriptomicevidenceofadaptiveevolutionoftheepiphyticfernaspleniumnidus
AT yuehongyan transcriptomicevidenceofadaptiveevolutionoftheepiphyticfernaspleniumnidus