Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Institute of Vegetable Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Growth, Development and Quality Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 May 12;21(10):3424. doi: 10.3390/ijms21103424.
Expansins are a kind of structural proteins of the plant cell wall, and they enlarge cells by loosening the cell walls. Therefore, expansins are involved in many growth and development processes. The complete genomic sequences of , and provide effective platforms for researchers to study expansin genes, and can be compared with analogues in . This study identified and characterized expansin families in , , and . Through the comparative analysis of phylogeny, gene structure, and physicochemical properties, the expansin families were divided into four subfamilies, and then their expansion patterns and evolution details were explored accordingly. Results showed that after the three species underwent independent evolution following their separation from , the expansin families in the three species had increased similarities but fewer divergences. By searching divergences of promoters and coding sequences, significant positive correlations were revealed among orthologs in and the three basic species. Subsequently, differential expressions indicated extensive functional divergences in the expansin families of the three species, especially in reproductive development. Hence, these results support the molecular evolution of basic species, potential functions of these genes, and genetic improvement of related crops.
扩展蛋白是植物细胞壁的一种结构蛋白，通过疏松细胞壁使细胞扩大。因此，扩展蛋白参与许多生长和发育过程。、和的完整基因组序列为研究人员提供了研究扩展基因的有效平台，并可以与的类似物进行比较。本研究在、和中鉴定和描述了扩展蛋白家族。通过系统发育、基因结构和理化性质的比较分析，将扩展蛋白家族分为四个亚家族，然后进一步探索其扩张模式和进化细节。结果表明，在这三个物种与分离后经历独立进化后，这三个物种中的扩展蛋白家族具有更高的相似性，但差异更小。通过搜索启动子和编码序列的差异，揭示了和三个基本物种中的同源基因之间存在显著的正相关关系。随后，差异表达表明这三个物种中的扩展蛋白家族具有广泛的功能分化，尤其是在生殖发育方面。因此，这些结果支持基本物种的分子进化、这些基因的潜在功能以及相关作物的遗传改良。
