Journal article

Publication year: 2017

Pages: 330-348

Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution

Volume number: 34

Issue number: 2

ISSN: 0737-4038

eISSN: 1537-1719

Open access status: Bronze

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw229

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract: 
Carpels are the female reproductive organs of flowering plants
(angiosperms), enclose the ovules, and develop into fruits. The presence
of carpels unites angiosperms, and they are suggested to be the most
important autapomorphy of the angiosperms, e.g., they prevent inbreeding
and allow efficient seed dispersal. Many transcriptional regulators and
coregulators essential for carpel development are encoded by diverse
gene families and well characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Among these regulators are AGAMOUS (AG), ETTIN (ETT), LEUNIG (LUG),
SEUSS (SEU), SHORT INTERNODE/STYLISH (SHI/STY), and SEPALLATA1, 2, 3, 4
(SEP1, 2, 3, 4). However, the timing of the origin and their subsequent
molecular evolution of these carpel developmental regulators are largely
unknown. Here, we have sampled homologs of these carpel developmental
regulators from the sequenced genomes of a wide taxonomic sampling of
the land plants, such as Physcomitrella patens, Selaginella moellendorfii, Picea abies,
and several angiosperms. Careful phylogenetic analyses were carried out
that provide a phylogenetic background for the different gene families
and provide minimal estimates for the ages of these developmental
regulators. Our analyses and published work show that LUG-, SEU-, and SHI/STY-like genes were already present in the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) of all land plants, AG- and SEP-like
genes were present in the MRCA of seed plants and their origin may
coincide with the ξ Whole Genome Duplication. Our work shows that the
carpel development regulatory network was, in part, recruited from
preexisting network components that were present in the MRCA of
angiosperms and modified to regulate gynoecium development.

Harvard Citation style: Pfannebecker, K., Lange, M., Rupp, O. and Becker, A. (2017) An Evolutionary Framework for Carpel Developmental Control Genes, Molecular Biology and Evolution, 34(2), pp. 330-348. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw229

APA Citation style: Pfannebecker, K., Lange, M., Rupp, O., & Becker, A. (2017). An Evolutionary Framework for Carpel Developmental Control Genes. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34(2), 330-348. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw229