Journal
CURRENT BIOLOGY
Volume 29, Issue 18, Pages 3041-+Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.086
Keywords
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Funding
- MEXT KAKENHI [24228008, 15H05959, 17H06172, 18H02464, 18H04838, 15K18589, 17H06474, 17H06473, 25891029, 17K15142]
- JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship
- JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientist
- RIKEN Special Postdoctoral Researchers Program
- NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship [1711545]
- Academy of Finland [266430]
- NSF [IOS-1737153, IOS-1740560, IOS-1238057, IOS-1213059]
- MEXT Cell Innovation program
- International Atomic Energy Agency Research [20645, 20634]
- NSERC
- Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) - Ministry of Education [NRF-2017R1A6A3A04004014]
- Agricultural Genome Center of the Next Generation Biogreen 21 Program of RDA [PJ013153]
- RIKEN president fund
- CSC - IT Centre for Science [hy7047]
- Kirkhouse Trust
- DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute - U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
- Academy of Finland (AKA) [266430, 266430] Funding Source: Academy of Finland (AKA)
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [18H02464, 25891029, 18H04838, 17H06474, 15K18589, 17K15142] Funding Source: KAKEN
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Div Of Biological Infrastructure [1711545] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Parasitic plants in the genus Striga, commonly known as witchweeds, cause major crop losses in sub-Saharan Africa and pose a threat to agriculture worldwide. An understanding of Striga parasite biology, which could lead to agricultural solutions, has been hampered by the lack of genome information. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of Striga asiatica with 34,577 predicted protein-coding genes, which reflects gene family contractions and expansions that are consistent with a three-phase model of parasitic plant genome evolution. Striga seeds germinate in response to host-derived strigolactones (SLs) and then develop a specialized penetration structure, the haustorium, to invade the host root. A family of SL receptors has undergone a striking expansion, suggesting a molecular basis for the evolution of broad host range among Striga spp. We found that genes involved in lateral root development in non-parasitic model species are coordinately induced during haustorium development in Striga, suggesting a pathway that was partly co-opted during the evolution of the haustorium. In addition, we found evidence for horizontal transfer of host genes as well as retrotransposons, indicating gene flow to S. asiatica from hosts. Our results provide valuable insights into the evolution of parasitism and a key resource for the future development of Striga control strategies.
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