Genomic Characterisation of Seagrass (Zostera muelleri), a Plant Adapted to Life in the Submerged Marine Environment
Date: Monday, January 13, 2014
Room: Grand Exhibit Hall
Agnieszka Golicz
,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Lars Smits
,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Philipp Emanuel Bayer
,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Kenneth Chan
,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Jacqueline Batley
,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Satomi Hayashi
,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Rudy Dolferus
,
CSIRO, Australia
Martin Schliep
,
University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Peter Ralph
,
University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
David Edwards
,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Seagrasses are monocotyledonous flowering plants which grow in fully saline marine environments. They consist of 12 genera and 58 known species. Seagrasses have evolved to overcome multiple challenges posed by growth in the marine environment including light attenuation through water depth, forces of wave actions and tidal currents, high concentrations of salt in the water and oxygen deficiency in the marine sediment. One of the most striking features of seagrasses is their ability to undergo pollination in a fully submerged aqueous environment. Despite these challenges seagrasses have evolved to grow and flourish in marine environment and have become a critical element of coastal ecosystems.
Interestingly, many fundamental questions involving seagrass biology and evolution remain open, including adaptation to living in a saline environment and evolution of stress responses. One of the strategies that may render important answers regarding seagrass adaptation is comparing the genomic content between seagrass and terrestrial plants.
We have generated sequence data for an Australian seagrass species, Zostera muelleri, and compared gene content between Z. muelleri and four model terrestrial plant species: Arabidopsis thaliana, Brachypodium distachyon, Oryza sativa and Sorghum bicolor. We have identified genes which are conserved between Z. muelleri and the terrestrial plant species as well as genes which have been lost in Z. muelleri. We hypothesise that the patterns of gene loss may reflect seagrass evolution and adaptation, providing insights into seagrass evolution on genomic level. The Z. muelleri genome assembly will provide insights into the evolutionary capability of plants and their adaption to extreme environments.
