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The colonization of land was a likely driving force for the evolution of mitochondrial retrograde signalling in plants

Khan, Kasim LU and Van Aken, Olivier LU (2022) In Journal of Experimental Botany 73(21). p.7182-7197
Abstract

Most retrograde signalling research in plants was performed using Arabidopsis, so an evolutionary perspective on mitochondrial retrograde regulation (MRR) is largely missing. Here, we used phylogenetics to track the evolutionary origins of factors involved in plant MRR. In all cases, the gene families can be traced to ancestral green algae or earlier. However, the specific subfamilies containing factors involved in plant MRR in many cases arose during the transition to land. NAC transcription factors with C-terminal transmembrane domains, as observed in the key regulator ANAC017, can first be observed in non-vascular mosses, and close homologs to ANAC017 can be found in seed plants. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are common to... (More)

Most retrograde signalling research in plants was performed using Arabidopsis, so an evolutionary perspective on mitochondrial retrograde regulation (MRR) is largely missing. Here, we used phylogenetics to track the evolutionary origins of factors involved in plant MRR. In all cases, the gene families can be traced to ancestral green algae or earlier. However, the specific subfamilies containing factors involved in plant MRR in many cases arose during the transition to land. NAC transcription factors with C-terminal transmembrane domains, as observed in the key regulator ANAC017, can first be observed in non-vascular mosses, and close homologs to ANAC017 can be found in seed plants. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are common to eukaryotes, but E-type CDKs that control MRR also diverged in conjunction with plant colonization of land. AtWRKY15 can be traced to the earliest land plants, while AtWRKY40 only arose in angiosperms and AtWRKY63 even more recently in Brassicaceae. Apetala 2 (AP2) transcription factors are traceable to algae, but the ABI4 type again only appeared in seed plants. This strongly suggests that the transition to land was a major driver for developing plant MRR pathways, while additional fine-tuning events have appeared in seed plants or later. Finally, we discuss how MRR may have contributed to meeting the specific challenges that early land plants faced during terrestrialization.

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Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Chloroplasts, colonization of land, evolution, mitochondria, plants, retrograde signalling, stress response
in
Journal of Experimental Botany
volume
73
issue
21
pages
16 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85149878504
ISSN
0022-0957
DOI
10.1093/jxb/erac351
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.
id
889114e3-c88b-408a-94c1-acca46147cac
date added to LUP
2026-07-02 15:13:40
date last changed
2026-07-02 17:49:52
@article{889114e3-c88b-408a-94c1-acca46147cac,
  abstract     = {{<p>Most retrograde signalling research in plants was performed using Arabidopsis, so an evolutionary perspective on mitochondrial retrograde regulation (MRR) is largely missing. Here, we used phylogenetics to track the evolutionary origins of factors involved in plant MRR. In all cases, the gene families can be traced to ancestral green algae or earlier. However, the specific subfamilies containing factors involved in plant MRR in many cases arose during the transition to land. NAC transcription factors with C-terminal transmembrane domains, as observed in the key regulator ANAC017, can first be observed in non-vascular mosses, and close homologs to ANAC017 can be found in seed plants. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are common to eukaryotes, but E-type CDKs that control MRR also diverged in conjunction with plant colonization of land. AtWRKY15 can be traced to the earliest land plants, while AtWRKY40 only arose in angiosperms and AtWRKY63 even more recently in Brassicaceae. Apetala 2 (AP2) transcription factors are traceable to algae, but the ABI4 type again only appeared in seed plants. This strongly suggests that the transition to land was a major driver for developing plant MRR pathways, while additional fine-tuning events have appeared in seed plants or later. Finally, we discuss how MRR may have contributed to meeting the specific challenges that early land plants faced during terrestrialization.</p>}},
  author       = {{Khan, Kasim and Van Aken, Olivier}},
  issn         = {{0022-0957}},
  keywords     = {{Chloroplasts; colonization of land; evolution; mitochondria; plants; retrograde signalling; stress response}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  number       = {{21}},
  pages        = {{7182--7197}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Experimental Botany}},
  title        = {{The colonization of land was a likely driving force for the evolution of mitochondrial retrograde signalling in plants}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erac351}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/jxb/erac351}},
  volume       = {{73}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}