Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory biologists have found a way to
remove prickles from plants genetically. Their discovery could
change the way we think about evolution in general.
COLD
SPRING HARBOR, N.Y., Aug. 1, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- According to Greek mythology, red roses first
appeared when Aphrodite pricked her foot on a thorn, spilling blood
on a white rose. Since then, roses' thorns have captured the
imaginations of countless poets and forlorn lovers.
But they aren't the only plants with these dangerous
protrusions, technically called prickles. Prickles have evolved
independently in species across the plant kingdom. Their main
function: warding off herbivores. They're even present in certain
eggplant and rice crops. Yet, for years, it's been unclear how the
trait pops up so frequently in such unrelated species.
Now, in a breakthrough discovery, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
(CSHL) has found that the same ancient gene family is responsible
for prickles across many plants, despite millions of years of
evolutionary separation.
CSHL postdoc James Satterlee was
inspired to investigate prickles upon touring a field where his
advisor, Professor & HHMI Investigator Zachary Lippman, grows hundreds of nightshades.
Think tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. Satterlee recalls:
"I noticed many had very prominent prickles. So, I asked, 'What
do we know about that? What's going on with this adaptation?' It
turns out we knew almost nothing."
With scientists in Spain,
Satterlee began analyzing eggplants, which led him to a gene family
called LONELY GUY (LOG). LOG genes are
normally responsible for making a hormone that causes cell division
and expansion. Satterlee discovered that certain LOG
mutations also eliminate prickles in eggplants. Lippman and
Satterlee wondered: Could LOG-related genes be responsible
for prickle gains and losses across multiple plants over millions
of years?
The team started combing through prior studies and contacting
collaborators around the globe. Satterlee and Lippman worked with
the New York Botanical Garden to examine specimens with and without
prickles. Collaborators at Cornell
University used genome editing to eliminate prickles in
desert raisins, a foraged berry native to Australia. Another colleague in France suppressed prickles in roses. In total,
the team came to associate prickles with LOG-related genes
in about 20 species.
Lippman says while this discovery could be used to engineer
plants without prickles, it also has big implications for
understanding convergent evolution in all life. That is, how
completely different species independently develop similar traits.
He explains:
"You're really asking about life in general—evolution of traits.
How do they emerge? How are they modified? What are the underlying
mechanisms? What can we learn about things we take for
granted?"
The answer could someday make lesser-known species like desert
raisins a new fruit in supermarkets. At the very least, it should
make life easier for horticulturalists plucking roses' pesky
thorns.
About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Founded in 1890,
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has shaped contemporary biomedical
research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant
biology and quantitative biology. Home to eight Nobel Prize
winners, the private, not-for-profit Laboratory employs 1,000
people including 600 scientists, students and technicians. For more
information, visit www.cshl.edu
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SOURCE Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory