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The MADS box gene family in tomato: temporal expression during floral development, conserved secondary structures and homology with homeotic genes from Antirrhinum and Arabidopsis
Author(s) -
Pnueli L.,
AbuAbeid M.,
Zamir D.,
Nacken W.,
SchwarzSommer Zs.,
Lifschitz E.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-313x.1991.00255.x
Subject(s) - homeotic gene , mads box , biology , antirrhinum majus , genetics , gene , antirrhinum , agamous , homology (biology) , gene family , arabidopsis , conserved sequence , genome , peptide sequence , gene expression , mutant
Summary Five genes with homology to the floral homeotic genes deficiens of Antirrhinum and agamous of Arabidopsis were isolated from tomato. Each of the five genes is unique in the genome and could be localized to a different chromosome by RFLP mapping. Four of the tomato genes (hereafter TM) are flower‐specific with distinguishable temporal expression. TM4 and TM8 are ‘early’, while TM5 and TM6 are ‘late’ genes. TM4 is homologous to squamosa and TM6 is similar to deficiens , which are, respectively, ‘early’ and ‘late’ bona fide homeotic genes in Antirrhinum. The proteins encoded by the five tomato genes, like several known homeotic genes from other plants, contain within their N‐terminus a highly conserved DMA‐binding domain, the MADS box. All known plant MADS box genes also share, however, other properties. They all contain a central, moderately conserved, and rather basic domain, and a highly divergent or even missing C‐terminal domain. Furthermore, molecular modelling predicts the presence of a conserved amphipatic alpha helix, at a constant distance from the MADS box in each of these proteins. The common properties of eight MADS box proteins from three plant families indicate that all their domains were coded for by the same ancestor gene. The sequence homology between pairs of MADS genes from different species indicates that the MADS ancestor gene multiplied and diverged in an ancestor plant common to several dicotyledon families.