Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis (AMS) arose in land plants more than 400 million years ago, perhaps acting as a major contributor to plant terrestrialization. Whilst the components of AMS are well characterized in angiosperms, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underpinning AMS in extant bryophyte clades. The liverwort Marchantia paleacea engages in AMS with Glomeromycotina fungi. A time-course RNAseq of the four main stages of AM symbiosis in M. paleacea and comparative transcriptomics with angiosperm AMS model species identified a core set of AMS genes that are conserved in early-diverging land plants. In this talk I will be focusing on the advantages and limitations of this analysis which combined the use of Orthofinder, phylogenetics and comparative transcriptomics.