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The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition

Dissertation (MSc (Genetics))--University of Pretoria, 2022.

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Other Authors: Mizrachi, Eshchar
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2022
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Mizrachi, Eshchar
author_browse Mizrachi, Eshchar
author_facet Mizrachi, Eshchar
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc (Genetics))--University of Pretoria, 2022.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:40:40.528Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/86002 The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition Mizrachi, Eshchar cassandra.schoeman@fabi.up.ac.za Makhalanyane, Thulani Peter Roodt, Danielle Schoeman, Cassandra Bianca Nitrogen acquisition Transcriptomics Symbiosis Coralloid root Plants UCTD Dissertation (MSc (Genetics))--University of Pretoria, 2022. Plant-microbe symbioses have important environmental and ecological implications because of the role they played in plant diversification as well as their ongoing impact on nutrient acquisition in nutrient-poor environments. Land plants, the foundation of most terrestrial ecosystems today, are the descendants of ancestral aquatic algae that transitioned to land approximately 443 to 470 million years ago. The consensus is that symbiotic associations facilitated plant colonisation. Over 450 million years of coevolution has led to a tremendous diversity of mutualistic symbioses, which could have aided the eventual domination of angiosperms. Plant-microbe evolution studies have mainly focused on the angiosperms, especially focusing on the two well-known symbioses commonly established by them; the arbuscular mycorrhizal (fungal) and the root-nodule (bacterial) symbioses. Although they make up ~80% of extant land plant species, angiosperms represent but a single plant lineage, therefore, invaluable knowledge can be gained from studying the unique biology of symbioses in other land plant lineages. For example, cyanobacterial symbiosis independently evolved across unrelated land plant lineages (bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms), and is amongst the major evolutionary innovations linked to the acquisition of nitrogen via partnerships with microorganisms. However, since the majority of published literature on cyanobioses are dated, information for these partnerships have remained inadequate – especially at a molecular and cellular resolution. Using an integrated approach and utilising multiple techniques including microscopy, de novo transcriptome assembly and quantification, and comparative genomics, the objectives of this MSc project were to investigate gene expression in coralloid root and control root tissues from the cycad, Encephalartos natalensis, and analyse genes preferentially expressed within these tissues as well as genes involved in the more commonly studied symbiotic associations. For comparative purposes, the symbiotic and control tissues from three other cyanobiosis-forming plant lineages were also analysed. By integrating multiple techniques and scientific fields, this project is one of the first to show possible neofunctionalisation of common symbiotic pathway genes for cyanobacterial partnerships from pre-existing arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in a similar way as that which occurred in nodule symbioses. While adding integral knowledge to the field of plant-microbe evolution, major outputs of this study also include transcriptomic resources for two cyanobacterial hosts, a comprehensive candidate gene list as well as gene expression profiles. South Africa’s NRF Grant UID 116239 Genetics MSc (Genetics) Unrestricted 2022-06-29T13:36:14Z 2022-06-29T13:36:14Z 2022-09-15 2022-06-25 Dissertation Schoeman, CB 2022, The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed 220625 https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/86002 S2022 https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/86002 10.25403/UPresearchdata.20152454 en © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Nitrogen acquisition
Transcriptomics
Symbiosis
Coralloid root
Plants
UCTD
The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition
title The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition
title_full The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition
title_fullStr The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition
title_full_unstemmed The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition
title_short The Encephalartos natalensis-cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition
title_sort encephalartos natalensis cyanobacterial coralloid root partnership for nitrogen acquisition
topic Nitrogen acquisition
Transcriptomics
Symbiosis
Coralloid root
Plants
UCTD
url https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/86002