Phenotypic landscape inference reveals multiple evolutionary paths to C4 photosynthesis

eLife

Iain G Johnston¹  Julian M Hibberd²  Ben P Williams²  Sarah Covshoff² 

[1] Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom;Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;

关键词: convergent evolution;    C4 photosynthesis;    Bayesian model;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.00961

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

C4 photosynthesis has independently evolved from the ancestral C3 pathway in at least 60 plant lineages, but, as with other complex traits, how it evolved is unclear. Here we show that the polyphyletic appearance of C4 photosynthesis is associated with diverse and flexible evolutionary paths that group into four major trajectories. We conducted a meta-analysis of 18 lineages containing species that use C3, C4, or intermediate C3–C4 forms of photosynthesis to parameterise a 16-dimensional phenotypic landscape. We then developed and experimentally verified a novel Bayesian approach based on a hidden Markov model that predicts how the C4 phenotype evolved. The alternative evolutionary histories underlying the appearance of C4 photosynthesis were determined by ancestral lineage and initial phenotypic alterations unrelated to photosynthesis. We conclude that the order of C4 trait acquisition is flexible and driven by non-photosynthetic drivers. This flexibility will have facilitated the convergent evolution of this complex trait.

【 授权许可】

Unknown