English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Background   Acanthus  is a unique genus consisting of both true mangrove and terrestrial species; thus, it represents an ideal system for studying the origin and adaptive evolution of mangrove plants to intertidal environments. However, little is known regarding the two respects of mangrove species in  Acanthus . In this study, we sequenced the transcriptomes of the pooled roots and leaves tissues for a mangrove species,  Acanthus ilicifolius , and its terrestrial congener,  A. leucostachyus , to illustrate the origin of the mangrove species in this genus and their adaptive evolution to harsh habitats.    Results  We obtained 73,039 and 69,580 contigs with N50 values of 741 and 1557 bp for  A. ilicifolius  and  A. leucostachyus , respectively. Phylogenetic analyses based on four nuclear segments and three chloroplast fragments revealed that mangroves and terrestrial species in  Acanthus  fell into different clades, indicating a single origin of the mangrove species in  Acanthus . Based on 6634 orthologs,  A. ilicifolius  and  A. leucostachyus  were found to be highly divergent, with a peak of synonymous substitution rate (Ks) distribution of 0.145 and an estimated divergence time of approximately 16.8 million years ago (MYA). The transgression in the Early to Middle Miocene may be the major reason for the entry of the mangrove lineage of  Acanthus  into intertidal environments. Gene ontology (GO) classifications of the full transcriptomes did not show any apparent differences between  A. ilicifolius  and  A. leucostachyus , suggesting the absence of gene components specific to the mangrove transcriptomes. A total of 99 genes in  A. ilicifolius  were identified with signals of positive selection. Twenty-three of the 99 positively selected genes (PSGs) were found to be involved in salt, heat and ultraviolet stress tolerance, seed germination and embryo development under periodic inundation. These stress-tolerance related PSGs may be crucial for the adaptation of the mangrove species in this genus to stressful marine environments and may contribute to speciation in  Acanthus .    Conclusions  We characterized the transcriptomes of one mangrove species of  Acanthus ,  A. ilicifolius , and its terrestrial relative,  A. leucostachyus , and provided insights into the origin of the mangrove  Acanthus  species and their adaptive evolution to abiotic stresses in intertidal environments.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1813-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

bmc genomics

Transcriptome analysis of the Holly mangrove Acanthus ilicifolius and its terrestrial relative, Acanthus leucostachyus, provides insights into adaptation to intertidal zones