Characterisation and evolution of chromosome complements of carnivorous Lentibulariaceae

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ingo Schubert
• Subject Area: Plant Genetics and Genomics
• Term: from 2012 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 212721201

The cosmopolitan Lentibulariaceae family is characterized by extreme plasticity of genome size, variable chromosome numbers, high base substitution rates and unique trapping mechanisms for carnivory. Genomes and chromosome complements of this interesting plant family are only scarcely studied. For Genlisea pygmaea. (76 Mbp; n=15) with one of the smallest plant genomes, for G. margaretae (175 Mbp; n=18 or 19) and for G. hispidula (1530 Mbp, n=17 or 18), the basic ploidy level (diploidy vs. polyploidy), the centromere structure (monocentric vs. polycentric), the chromosomal constitution regarding heterochromatin, telomeres, and rDNA as well as the subnuclear distribution of epigenetic markers will be determined. A BAC library will be established, ordered into a tiling path and used to elucidate karyotype evolution, in particular the reasons of chromosome number alteration, within the genus Genlisea and potentially other Lentibulariaceae species via comparative chromosome painting. It is aimed to find out, whether similar or alternative mechanisms shaped Lentibulariaceae karyotypes, compared to the situation described for other seed plant families. Reciprocal painting with mapped and sequenced BAC pools will reveal the degree of synteny to A. thaliana, a member of the Brassicaceae family.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Dr. Jörg Fuchs