Parasitic plant dodder (Cuscuta spp.): A new natural Agrobacterium-to-plant horizontal gene transfer species

Zhang, Yuexia; Wang, Delin; Wang, Yubin; Dong, Huirong; Yuan, Yuge; Yang, Wei; Lai, Daowan; Zhang, Mingcai; Jiang, Linjian; Li, Zhaohu

doi:10.1007/s11427-019-1588-x

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…None of the species that belong to the genus Cuscuta possesses roots and there are, therefore, no obvious natural targets of the plant pathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes . Nevertheless, some Cuscuta species were recently shown to have acquired a gene coding for the Mikimopine synthase ( mis gene) (Zhang et al, 2020) that is typically transferred to plants during A. rhizogenes infection in order to supply the bacterium with opines. Plant homologues of the mis gene are found only in a handful of plant species belonging to the genera Nicotiana and Linnaria where they are believed to have originated by three independent horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events (Kovacova et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What has made these hairy roots popular for plant biotechnology is that they can be propagated in the absence of exogenous plant hormones. Very recently, it was shown that an A. rhizogenes gene coding for the mikimopine synthase was horizontally transferred into several Cuscuta species (Zhang et al, 2020), including Cuscuta campestris (Vogel et al, 2018) and Cuscuta australis (Sun et al, 2018), suggesting that Cuscuta species may be susceptible to infection by this Agrobacterium species despite their lack of roots.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A highly efficient protocol for transforming Cuscuta reflexa based on artificially induced infection sites

2020

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The parasitic plant genus Cuscuta is notoriously difficult to transform and to propagate or regenerate in vitro. With it being a substantial threat to many agroecosystems, techniques allowing functional analysis of gene products involved in host interaction and infection mechanisms are, however, in high demand. We set out to explore whether Agrobacterium‐mediated transformation of different plant parts can provide efficient alternatives to the currently scarce and inefficient protocols for transgene expression in Cuscuta. We used fluorescent protein genes on the T‐DNA as markers for transformation efficiency and transformation stability. As a result, we present a novel highly efficient transformation protocol for Cuscuta reflexa cells that exploits the propensity of the infection organ to take up and express transgenes with the T‐DNA. Both, Agrobacterium rhizogenes and Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying binary transformation vectors with reporter fluorochromes yielded high numbers of transformation events. An overwhelming majority of transformed cells were observed in the cell layer below the adhesive disk’s epidermis, suggesting that these cells are particularly susceptible to infection. Cotransformation of these cells happens frequently when Agrobacterium strains carrying different constructs are applied together. Explants containing transformed tissue expressed the fluorescent markers in in vitro culture for several weeks, offering a future possibility for development of transformed cells into callus. These results are discussed with respect to the future potential of this technique and with respect to the special characteristics of the infection organ that may explain its competence to take up the foreign DNA.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A highly efficient protocol for transforming Cuscuta reflexa based on artificially induced infection sites

2020

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“…None of the species that belong to the genus Cuscuta possesses roots and they are therefore no obvious natural targets of the plant pathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes . Nevertheless, some Cuscuta species were recently shown to have acquired a gene coding for the Mikimopine synthase ( mis gene) (Zhang et al, 2020) that is typically transferred to plants during A. rhizogenes infection in order to supply the bacterium with opines. Plant homologues of the mis gene are found only in a handful of plant species belonging to the genera Nicotiana and Linnaria where they are believed to have originated by three independent horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events (Kovacova et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It can be debated whether this could also be the case in Cuscuta . However, the mis gene was so far only found in species belonging to the subgenus Grammica (Zhang et al, 2020), but was not detected in a transcriptome database (Olsen et al, 2016) of C. reflexa . Therefore, it is more likely that the loss of key genes involved in root development is responsible for the failure to produce hairy roots in A. rhizogenes -infected Cuscuta tissue.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A highly efficient protocol for transformingCuscuta reflexabased on artificially induced infection sites

Lachner

Galstyan

Krause

2020

Preprint

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A protocol that yields high numbers of transformed cells in the adhesive disks of Cuscuta reflexa 27 upon exposure to agrobacteria brings closer the vision of generating genetically modified 28 Cuscuta. 29 30 ABSTRACT 31 A current bottleneck in the functional analysis of the emerging parasitic model plant Cuscuta and 32 the exploitation of its recently sequenced genomes is the lack of efficient transformation tools. 33 Here, we describe the development of a novel highly efficient Agrobacterium-mediated 34 transformation protocol for Cuscuta reflexa based on the parasitic structure referred to as 35 adhesive disk. Both, Agrobacterium rhizogenes and Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying binary 36 transformation vectors with reporter fluorochromes yielded high numbers of transformation 37 events. An overwhelming majority of transformed cells were observed in the cell layer below the 38 adhesive disk's epidermis, suggesting that these cells are particularly susceptible to infection. Co-39 transformation of these cells happens frequently when Agrobacterium strains carrying different 40 constructs are applied together. Explants containing transformed tissue expressed the fluorescent 41 markers in in vitro culture for several weeks, offering a possibility for development of 42 transformed cells into callus. 43 44 45 3 46 48 worldwide and infects a broad range of host plants. The parasite starts an attack by winding 49around the host stem. A multicellular feeding structure termed the haustorium, which can reach 50 2-3 mm in size in some species and originates from a secondary meristem in the cortex close to 51 the vascular bundles, develops within a few days and breaches the host tissue integrity using 52 mechanical pressure and enzymatic digestion of cell walls (Nagar et al., 1984; Johnsen et al., 53 2015; Kaiser et al., 2015). To make the penetration possible, a sucker-shaped attachment organ 54 provides the necessary counterforce. The development of this organ, termed "adhesive disk" or 55

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Extensive natural Agrobacterium-induced transformation in the genus Camellia

Chen,

Liu,

Blevins

et al. 2023

Planta

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Parasitic plant dodder (Cuscuta spp.): A new natural Agrobacterium-to-plant horizontal gene transfer species

Cited by 16 publications

References 14 publications

A highly efficient protocol for transforming Cuscuta reflexa based on artificially induced infection sites

A highly efficient protocol for transforming Cuscuta reflexa based on artificially induced infection sites

A highly efficient protocol for transformingCuscuta reflexabased on artificially induced infection sites

Extensive natural Agrobacterium-induced transformation in the genus Camellia

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