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Evolution of legumin genes: loss of an ancestral intron at the beginning of angiosperm diversification
Author(s) -
Häger K.-P.,
Müller B.,
Wind C.,
Erbach S.,
Fischer H.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(96)00477-2
Subject(s) - legumin , intron , biology , gene , gymnosperm , genetics , coding region , phylogenetic tree , concerted evolution , exon , botany , storage protein
The polymerase chain reaction was used to survey gymnosperm legumin genes. Characterization of 46 cloned amplificates, differing in sequence and size (1.2–1.6 kb), revealed the ubiquitous occurrence of legumin genes and their organization in small subfamilies in the 22 species investigated. The 3′ portions of the genes, coding for the legumin β‐polypeptides, show a highly conserved intron/exon structure divergent from those of angiosperms: an additional intron (intron IV) uniformly interrupts the region coding for the C‐terminal part of the β‐polypeptides. Phylogenetic analysis of the respective coding sequences as well as the organization of the Magnolia B14 legumin gene also investigated here both indicate that intron IV is ancestral and was lost during early angiosperm evolution. Taking into account the intronlexon structures from all legumin genes known, our results suggest that legumin genes evolved by subsequent loss of introns, providing also further evidence for a common origin of legumins and vicilins.