Journal article

Publication year: 1999

Pages: 1425-1434

Journal: Molecular Biology and Evolution

Volume number: 17

Issue number: 10

ISSN: 0737-4038

eISSN: 1537-1719

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026243

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract: 
MADS-box genes encode a family of transcription factors which control
diverse developmental processes in flowering plants ranging from root
development to flower and fruit development. Through phylogeny
reconstructions, most of these genes can be subdivided into defined
monophyletic gene clades whose members share similar expression patterns
and functions. Therefore, the establishment of the diversity of gene
clades was probably an important event in land plant evolution. In order
to determine when these clades originated, we isolated cDNAs of 19
different MADS-box genes from Gnetum gnemon, a gymnosperm model
species and thus a representative of the sister group of the
angiosperms. Phylogeny reconstructions involving all published MADS-box
genes were then used to identify gene clades containing putative
orthologs from both angiosperm and gymnosperm lineages. Thus, the
minimal number of MADS-box genes that were already present in the last
common ancestor of extant gymnosperms and angiosperms was determined.
Comparative expression studies involving pairs of putatively orthologous
genes revealed a diversity of patterns that has been largely conserved
since the time when the angiosperm and gymnosperm lineages separated.
Taken together, our data suggest that there were already at least seven
different MADS-box genes present at the base of extant seed plants about
300 MYA. These genes were probably already quite diverse in terms of
both sequence and function. In addition, our data demonstrate that the
MADS-box gene families of extant gymnosperms and angiosperms are of
similar complexities.

Harvard Citation style: Becker, A., Winter, K., Meyer, B., Saedler, H. and Theißen, G. (1999) MADS-Box Gene Diversity in Seed Plants 300 Million Years Ago, Molecular Biology and Evolution, 17(10), pp. 1425-1434. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026243

APA Citation style: Becker, A., Winter, K., Meyer, B., Saedler, H., & Theißen, G. (1999). MADS-Box Gene Diversity in Seed Plants 300 Million Years Ago. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 17(10), 1425-1434. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026243