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Revisiting the phosphatidylethanolamine‐binding protein ( PEBP) gene family reveals cryptic FLOWERING LOCUS T gene homologs in gymnosperms and sheds new light on functional evolution
Author(s) -
Liu YanYan,
Yang KeZhen,
Wei XiaoXin,
Wang XiaoQuan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.14066
Subject(s) - gymnosperm , biology , functional divergence , subfunctionalization , gene family , neofunctionalization , gene duplication , gene , arabidopsis , genetics , locus (genetics) , concerted evolution , genome , evolutionary biology , botany , mutant
Summary Angiosperms and gymnosperms are two major groups of extant seed plants. It has been suggested that gymnosperms lack FLOWERING LOCUS T ( FT ), a key integrator at the core of flowering pathways in angiosperms. Taking advantage of newly released gymnosperm genomes, we revisited the evolutionary history of the plant phosphatidylethanolamine‐binding protein ( PEBP ) gene family through phylogenetic reconstruction. Expression patterns in three gymnosperm taxa and heterologous expression in Arabidopsis were studied to investigate the functions of gymnosperm FT ‐like and TERMINAL FLOWER 1 ( TFL 1 )‐like genes. Phylogenetic reconstruction suggests that an ancient gene duplication predating the divergence of seed plants gave rise to the FT and TFL 1 genes. Expression patterns indicate that gymnosperm TFL 1 ‐like genes play a role in the reproductive development process, while GymFT1 and GymFT2 , the FT ‐like genes resulting from a duplication event in the common ancestor of gymnosperms, function in both growth rhythm and sexual development pathways. When expressed in Arabidopsis, both spruce FT ‐like and TFL 1 ‐like genes repressed flowering. Our study demonstrates that gymnosperms do have FT ‐like and TFL 1 ‐like genes. Frequent gene and genome duplications contributed significantly to the expansion of the plant PEBP gene family. The expression patterns of gymnosperm PEBP genes provide novel insight into the functional evolution of this gene family.