2026/03/03 by Katharina Melkonian, Tifenn Pellen, Katinka Bünger +6 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Conserved sequence #Evolutionary developmental biology #Gene #Gibberellic acid #Marchantia polymorpha #Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions #Phenotype #Plant Molecular Biology Research #Plant evolution #Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism #Symbiosis
paper · doi:10.64898/2026.03.02.709003
published in bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
openalex publication_date 2026/03/03 · openalex created_date 2026/03/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Summary DELLA proteins play diverse roles in development, plant-microbe interactions and stress responses, and are regulated by the hormone gibberellic acid (GA) in flowering plants. Here, we investigated the evolutionary conservation of functions of the single DELLA ortholog in the non-vascular model liverwort Marchantia paleacea , which lacks genes for perception and biosynthesis of bioactive GA. We found that GA-independent developmental phenotypes are conserved in M. paleacea , while neither DELLA , nor its close paralog GRAS13 are involved in establishment of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. We propose that symbiosis-related functions of DELLA evolved and have been maintained in vascular plants because GA-dependent regulation offered an additional, systemic, control layer on symbiosis.