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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Poisonous Plant Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #391742
Research Project: Understanding and Mitigating the Adverse Effects of Poisonous Plants on Livestock Production Systems

Location: Poisonous Plant Research

Title: Phylogenetic patterns of swainsonine presence in morning glories

Author
item QUACH, QUYNH - Tulane University
item Gardner, Dale
item CLAY, KEITH - Tulane University
item Cook, Daniel

Submitted to: Frontiers in Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/7/2022
Publication Date: 5/3/2022
Citation: Quach, Q.N., Gardner, D.R., Clay, K., Cook, D. 2022. Phylogenetic patterns of swainsonine presence in morning glories. Frontiers in Microbiology. 13. Article 871148. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.871148.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.871148

Interpretive Summary: Endosymbionts play important roles in the life cycles of many macro-organisms. The indolizidine alkaloid swainsonine is produced by heritable fungi occurring in diverse plant families including locoweeds (Fabaceae) and morning glories (Convolvulaceae) plus two species of Malvaceae. Swainsonine is known for its toxic effects on livestock through the ingestion of locoweeds and potential for pharmaceutical applications. We sampled and tested herbarium seed samples (n=983) from 244 morning glory species for swainsonine presence and built a phylogeny based on available ITS sequences of the sampled species. We show that swainsonine occurs only in a single morning glory clade and host species are established on multiple continents. Our results further indicate that this symbiosis developed ~5 mya and that swainsonine-positive species have larger seeds than their uninfected conspecifics.

Technical Abstract: Endosymbionts play important roles in the life cycles of many macro-organisms. The indolizidine alkaloid swainsonine is produced by heritable fungi occurring in diverse plant families including locoweeds (Fabaceae) and morning glories (Convolvulaceae) plus two species of Malvaceae. Swainsonine is known for its toxic effects on livestock through the ingestion of locoweeds and potential for pharmaceutical applications. We sampled and tested herbarium seed samples (n=983) from 244 morning glory species for swainsonine presence and built a phylogeny based on available ITS sequences of the sampled species. We show that swainsonine occurs only in a single morning glory clade and host species are established on multiple continents. Our results further indicate that this symbiosis developed ~5 mya and that swainsonine-positive species have larger seeds than their uninfected conspecifics.