Maria Virginia Sanchez-Puerta

The paper compares mitochondrial genomes of Rafflesiaceae parasites and their host to show how horizontal gene transfer and structural changes lead to divergent mitogenome architectures.

The paper investigates how parasitic plants overcome expression barriers in mitochondrial HGT by using chimeric genes with native promoters and efficient RNA editing.

The paper characterizes the plastome of Mitrastemonaceae, revealing extreme AT bias, genome reduction, and functional persistence despite accelerated substitution rates.

This study investigates how photosynthesis loss and horizontal gene transfer reshape organellar translation and tRNA metabolism in holoparasitic plants.

This study reveals that Mitrastemon yamamotoi has acquired over 60% of its mitochondrial DNA from its host through horizontal gene transfer, supporting the circle-mediated HGT model.

The paper identifies fungal-derived tRNA genes in orchid mitochondria that are transcribed, modified, and aminoacylated, suggesting functional integration into the mitochondrial translation system.

The paper characterizes tRNA aminoacylation in Arabidopsis and shows higher rates in organellar tRNAs compared to nuclear/cytosolic tRNAs.

The paper identifies break-induced replication (BIR) as the primary recombination pathway in plant somatic hybrid mitochondria, supporting a model for mitochondrial horizontal gene transfer.

The paper analyzes mitochondrial genome rearrangements in a plant cybrid, identifying recombination events and gene content changes that may contribute to cytoplasmic male sterility.