Morpho-anatomical affinities and evolutionary relationships of three paleoendemic podocarp genera based on seed cone traits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raees Khan ◽  
Robert S Hill
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Ancestral State Reconstruction ◽  
Evolutionary Relationships ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Anatomical Structures ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Seed Cone

Abstract Background and Aims The three relict genera Pherosphaera, Microcachrys and Saxegothaea in Podocarpaceae produce quite distinct seed cone types in comparison to other genera and does not form a clade along with Acmopyle. The detailed seed cone morpho-anatomy of these three relict genera and affinities with other podocarps are poorly known. This study aims to understand the seed cone morpho-anatomy and affinities among these three disjunct relict genera and with other podocarps. Methods We comparatively analysed the seed cone morpho-anatomical traits of the three podocarps genera and used ancestral state reconstruction to understand the evolution of these traits. Key Results We described the seed cone morpho-anatomical structures of the three relict genera in detail. The three genera produce aggregated multiovulate cones. Both Microcachrys and Saxegothaea has an asymmetrical free cup-like epimatium. Both species of Pherosphaera lack epimatium. The ancestral state reconstruction implies that the presence of epimatium is an ancestral trait in podocarps and independently lost in Pherosphaera and Phyllocladus. The seed cones are fleshy in Microcachrys and non-fleshy in Saxegothaea and Pherosphaera. The seed cone macrofossils of both extinct and living podocarps also show the presence of epimatium and fleshiness in podocarps. Conclusions Altogether, the morpho-anatomy suggests Pherosphaera, Microcachrys and Saxegothaea present affinities with each other and other podocarps but the reconstruction of ancestral seed cone in Podcarpaceae is quite complex due to multiple convergent evolutions of several structures. These structures (e.g. epimatium, aril, receptaculum) are of low taxonomic value but of great evolutionary and ecologically significance and are responsive adaptations to ever-changing environmental conditions.

scholarly journals A new lineage of mazaediate fungi in the Eurotiomycetes: Cryptocaliciomycetidae subclass. nov., based on the new species Cryptocalicium blascoi and the revision of the ascoma evolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 889-904
Author(s):  
M. Prieto ◽  
Javier Etayo ◽  
I. Olariaga
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
External Surface ◽  
Evolutionary Relationships ◽  
New Order ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Multigene Phylogeny ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Distinct Structure ◽  
Dark Violet

AbstractThe class Eurotiomycetes (Ascomycota, Pezizomycotina) comprises important fungi used for medical, agricultural, industrial and scientific purposes. Eurotiomycetes is a morphologically and ecologically diverse monophyletic group. Within the Eurotiomycetes, different ascoma morphologies are found including cleistothecia and perithecia but also apothecia or stromatic forms. Mazaediate representatives (with a distinct structure in which loose masses of ascospores accumulate to be passively disseminated) have evolved independently several times. Here we describe a new mazaediate species belonging to the Eurotiomycetes. The multigene phylogeny produced (7 gene regions: nuLSU, nuSSU, 5.8S nuITS, mtSSU, RPB1, RPB2 and MCM7) placed the new species in a lineage sister to Eurotiomycetidae. Based on the evolutionary relationships and morphology, a new subclass, a new order, family and genus are described to place the new species: Cryptocalicium blascoi. This calicioid species occurs on the inner side of loose bark strips of Cupressaceae (Cupressus, Juniperus). Morphologically, C. blascoi is characterized by having minute apothecioid stalked ascomata producing mazaedia, clavate bitunicate asci with hemiamyloid reaction, presence of hamathecium and an apothecial external surface with dark violet granules that becomes turquoise green in KOH. The ancestral state reconstruction analyses support a common ancestor with open ascomata for all deep nodes in Eurotiomycetes and the evolution of closed ascomata (cleistothecioid in Eurotiomycetidae and perithecioid in Chaetothyriomycetidae) from apothecioid ancestors. The appropriateness of the description of a new subclass for this fungus is also discussed.

scholarly journals Deciphering the Origin, Evolution, and Physiological Function of the Subtelomeric Aryl-Alcohol Dehydrogenase Gene Family in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Dong Yang ◽  
Gustavo M. de Billerbeck ◽  
Jin-jing Zhang ◽  
Frank Rosenzweig ◽  
Jean-Marie Francois
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase ◽  
Lignin Degradation ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Ancestral State Reconstruction ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Aryl Aldehydes ◽  
Aryl Aldehyde

ABSTRACTHomology searches indicate thatSaccharomyces cerevisiaestrain BY4741 contains seven redundant genes that encode putative aryl-alcohol dehydrogenases (AAD). YeastAADgenes are located in subtelomeric regions of different chromosomes, and their functional role(s) remain enigmatic. Here, we show that two of these genes,AAD4andAAD14, encode functional enzymes that reduce aliphatic and aryl-aldehydes concomitant with the oxidation of cofactor NADPH, and that Aad4p and Aad14p exhibit different substrate preference patterns. Other yeastAADgenes are undergoing pseudogenization. The 5′ sequence ofAAD15has been deleted from the genome. Repair of anAAD3missense mutation at the catalytically essential Tyr73residue did not result in a functional enzyme. However, ancestral-state reconstruction by fusing Aad6 with Aad16 and by N-terminal repair of Aad10 restores NADPH-dependent aryl-alcohol dehydrogenase activities. Phylogenetic analysis indicates thatAADgenes are narrowly distributed in wood-saprophyte fungi and in yeast that occupy lignocellulosic niches. Because yeastAADgenes exhibit activity on veratraldehyde, cinnamaldehyde, and vanillin, they could serve to detoxify aryl-aldehydes released during lignin degradation. However, none of these compounds induce yeastAADgene expression, and Aad activities do not relieve aryl-aldehyde growth inhibition. Our data suggest an ancestral role forAADgenes in lignin degradation that is degenerating as a result of yeast's domestication and use in brewing, baking, and other industrial applications.IMPORTANCEFunctional characterization of hypothetical genes remains one of the chief tasks of the postgenomic era. Although the firstSaccharomyces cerevisiaegenome sequence was published over 20 years ago, 22% of its estimated 6,603 open reading frames (ORFs) remain unverified. One outstanding example of this category of genes is the enigmatic seven-memberAADfamily. Here, we demonstrate that proteins encoded by two members of this family exhibit aliphatic and aryl-aldehyde reductase activity, and further that such activity can be recovered from pseudogenizedAADgenes via ancestral-state reconstruction. The phylogeny of yeastAADgenes suggests that these proteins may have played an important ancestral role in detoxifying aromatic aldehydes in ligninolytic fungi. However, in yeast adapted to niches rich in sugars,AADgenes become subject to mutational erosion. Our findings shed new light on the selective pressures and molecular mechanisms by which genes undergo pseudogenization.

scholarly journals The phylogenetic position of the solitary zoanthid genus Sphenopus (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia)

2012 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Reimer ◽  
Meifang Lin ◽  
Takuma Fujii ◽  
David J.W. Lane ◽  
Bert W. Hoeksema
Keyword(s):  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Solid Substrate ◽  
Ancestral State Reconstruction ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Unique Character ◽  
The Family ◽  
Southern Taiwan

The zoanthid genus Sphenopus (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Zoantharia), like many other brachycnemic zoanthids, is found in shallow subtropical and tropical waters, but is uniquely unitary (solitary, monostomatous), azooxanthellate, and free-living. With sparse knowledge of its phylogenetic position, this study examines the phylogenetic position of Sphenopus within the family Sphenopidae utilizing specimens from southern Taiwan and Brunei collected in 1999-2011, and furthermore analyzes the evolution of its unique character set via ancestral state reconstruction analyses. Phylogenetic analyses surprisingly show Sphenopus to be phylogenetically positioned within the genus Palythoa, which is colonial (polystomatous), zooxanthellate, and attached to solid substrate. Ancestral state reconstruction strongly indicates that the unique characters of Sphenopus have evolved recently within Palythoa and only in the Sphenopuslineage. These results indicate that zoanthid body plans can evolve with rapidity, as in some other marine invertebrates, and that the traditional definitions of zoanthid genera may need reexamination.

Phylogenetics, ancestral state reconstruction, and a new infrageneric classification of Scleria (Cyperaceae) based on three DNA markers

Taxon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Bauters ◽  
Pieter Asselman ◽  
David A. Simpson ◽  
A. Muthama Muasya ◽  
Paul Goetghebeur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Markers ◽  
Ancestral State Reconstruction ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Infrageneric Classification ◽  
State Reconstruction

Ancestral state reconstruction analysis of hymenopteran sex determination mechanisms

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1762-1769 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. ASPLEN ◽  
J. B. WHITFIELD ◽  
J. G. DE BOER ◽  
G. E. HEIMPEL
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
Ancestral State Reconstruction ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Sex Determination Mechanisms
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