The gene space of European mistletoe (Viscum album)

authored by: Lucie Schröder, Natalija Hohnjec, Michael Senkler, Jennifer Senkler, Helge Küster, Hans-Peter Braun
Abstract: European mistletoe is a hemiparasitic flowering plant that is known for a very special life cycle and extraordinary biochemical properties. Particularly, V. album has an unusual mode of cellular respiration that takes place in the absence of mitochondrial complex I. However, insights into the molecular biology of V. album so far are very limited. Since the genome of V. album is extremely large (estimated 600 times larger than the genome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana) it has not been sequenced up to now. We here report sequencing of the V. album gene space (defined as the space including and surrounding genic regions, encompassing coding as well as 5' and 3' non-coding regions). Messenger-RNA fractions were isolated from different V. album organs harvested in summer or winter and were analysed via Single Molecule Real-Time sequencing. We determined sequences of 39,092 distinct open reading frames encoding 32,064 V. album proteins (designated V. album protein space). Our data give new insights into the metabolism and molecular biology of V. album, including the biosynthesis of lectins and viscotoxins. The benefits of the V. album gene space information are demonstrated by re-evaluating mass spectrometry based data of the V. album mitochondrial proteome, which previously had been evaluated using the Arabidopsis thaliana genome sequence. Our re-examination allowed the additional identification of nearly 200 mitochondrial proteins, including four proteins related to complex I, which all have a secondary function not related to respiratory electron transport. The V. album gene space sequences are available at the NCBI.
Organisation(s): Section Plant Molecular Biology and Plant Proteomics
Institute of Plant Genetics
Section Plant Genomics
Type: Article
Journal: Plant Journal
Volume: 109
Pages: 278-294
No. of pages: 17
ISSN: 0960-7412
Publication date: 12.2021
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Genetics, Plant Science, Cell Biology
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 15 - Life on Land
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15558 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.15488/11673 (Access: Open)