The evolution of CHROMOMETHYLASES and gene body DNA methylation in plants.

BACKGROUND: The evolution of gene body methylation (gbM), its origins, and its functional consequences are poorly understood. By pairing the largest collection of transcriptomes (>1000) and methylomes (77) across Viridiplantae, we provide novel insights into the evolution of gbM and its relationship to CHROMOMETHYLASE (CMT) proteins. RESULTS: CMTs are evolutionary conserved DNA methyltransferases in Viridiplantae. Duplication events gave rise to what are now referred to as CMT1, 2 and 3. Independent losses of CMT1, 2, and 3 in eudicots, CMT2 and ZMET in monocots and monocots/commelinids, variation in copy number, and non-neutral evolution suggests overlapping or fluid functional evolution of this gene family. DNA methylation within genes is widespread and is found in all major taxonomic groups of Viridiplantae investigated. Genes enriched with methylated CGs (mCG) were also identified in species sister to angiosperms. The proportion of genes and DNA methylation patterns associated with gbM are restricted to angiosperms with a functional CMT3 or ortholog. However, mCG-enriched genes in the gymnosperm Pinus taeda shared some similarities with gbM genes in Amborella trichopoda. Additionally, gymnosperms and ferns share a CMT homolog closely related to CMT2 and 3. Hence, the dependency of gbM on a CMT most likely extends to all angiosperms and possibly gymnosperms and ferns. CONCLUSIONS: The resulting gene family phylogeny of CMT transcripts from the most diverse sampling of plants to date redefines our understanding of CMT evolution and its evolutionary consequences on DNA methylation. Future, functional tests of homologous and paralogous CMTs will uncover novel roles and consequences to the epigenome.

Plant protein peptidase inhibitors: an evolutionary overview based on comparative genomics.

BACKGROUND: Peptidases are key proteins involved in essential plant physiological processes. Although protein peptidase inhibitors are essential molecules that modulate peptidase activity, their global presence in different plant species remains still unknown. Comparative genomic analyses are powerful tools to get advanced knowledge into the presence and evolution of both, peptidases and their inhibitors across the Viridiplantae kingdom. RESULTS: A genomic comparative analysis of peptidase inhibitors and several groups of peptidases in representative species of different plant taxonomic groups has been performed. The results point out: i) clade-specific presence is common to many families of peptidase inhibitors, being some families present in most land plants; ii) variability is a widespread feature for peptidase inhibitory families, with abundant species-specific (or clade-specific) gene family proliferations; iii) peptidases are more conserved in different plant clades, being C1A papain and S8 subtilisin families present in all species analyzed; and iv) a moderate correlation among peptidases and their inhibitors suggests that inhibitors proliferated to control both endogenous and exogenous peptidases. CONCLUSIONS: Comparative genomics has provided valuable insights on plant peptidase inhibitor families and could explain the evolutionary reasons that lead to the current variable repertoire of peptidase inhibitors in specific plant clades.

Ancient signals: comparative genomics of green plant CDPKs.

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are multifunctional proteins that combine calcium-binding and signaling capabilities within a single gene product. This unique versatility enables multiple plant biological processes to be controlled, including developmental programs and stress responses. The genome of flowering plants typically encodes around 30 CDPK homologs that cluster in four conserved clades. In this review, we take advantage of the recent availability of genome sequences from green algae and early land plants to examine how well the previously described CDPK family from angiosperms compares to the broader evolutionary states associated with early diverging green plant lineages. Our analysis suggests that the current architecture of the CDPK family was shaped during the colonization of the land by plants, whereas CDPKs from ancestor green algae have continued to evolve independently.

Released selective pressure on a structural domain gives new insights on the functional relaxation of mitochondrial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase.

Mammalian mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are nuclear-encoded enzymes that are essential for mitochondrial protein synthesis. Due to an endosymbiotic origin of the mitochondria, many of them share structural domains with homologous bacterial enzymes of same specificity. This is also the case for human mitochondrial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase (AspRS) that shares the so-called bacterial insertion domain with bacterial homologs. The function of this domain in the mitochondrial proteins is unclear. Here, we show by bioinformatic analyses that the sequences coding for the bacterial insertion domain are less conserved in opisthokont and protist than in bacteria and viridiplantae. The divergence suggests a loss of evolutionary pressure on this domain for non-plant mitochondrial AspRSs. This discovery is further connected with the herein described occurrence of alternatively spliced transcripts of the mRNAs coding for some mammalian mitochondrial AspRSs. Interestingly, the spliced transcripts alternately lack one of the four exons that code for the bacterial insertion domain. Although we showed that the human alternative transcript is present in all tested tissues; co-exists with the full-length form, possesses 5'- and 3'-UTRs, a poly-A tail and is bound to polysomes, we were unable to detect the corresponding protein. The relaxed selective pressure combined with the occurrence of alternative splicing, involving a single structural sub-domain, favors the hypothesis of the loss of function of this domain for AspRSs of mitochondrial location. This evolutionary divergence is in line with other characteristics, established for the human mt-AspRS, that indicate a functional relaxation of non-viridiplantae mt-AspRSs when compared to bacterial and plant ones, despite their common ancestry.

Identification, expression, and taxonomic distribution of alternative oxidases in non-angiosperm plants.

Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a terminal ubiquinol oxidase present in the respiratory chain of all angiosperms investigated to date, but AOX distribution in other members of the Viridiplantae is less clear. We assessed the taxonomic distribution of AOX using bioinformatics. Multiple sequence alignments compared AOX proteins and examined amino acid residues involved in AOX catalytic function and post-translational regulation. Novel AOX sequences were found in both Chlorophytes and Streptophytes and we conclude that AOX is widespread in the Viridiplantae. AOX multigene families are common in non-angiosperm plants and the appearance of AOX1 and AOX2 subtypes pre-dates the divergence of the Coniferophyta and Magnoliophyta. Residues involved in AOX catalytic function are highly conserved between Chlorophytes and Streptophytes, while AOX post-translational regulation likely differs in these two lineages. We demonstrate experimentally that an AOX gene is present in the moss Physcomitrella patens and that the gene is transcribed. Our findings suggest that AOX will likely exert an influence on plant respiration and carbon metabolism in non-angiosperms such as green algae, bryophytes, liverworts, lycopods, ferns, gnetophytes, and gymnosperms and that further research in these systems is required.

Diversification of quiescin sulfhydryl oxidase in a preserved framework for redox relay.

BACKGROUND: The enzyme family Quiescin Sulfhydryl Oxidase (QSOX) is defined by the presence of an amino-terminal thioredoxin-fold (Trx) domain and a carboxy-terminal Erv family sulfhydryl oxidase domain. QSOX enzymes, which generate disulfide bonds and transfer them to substrate proteins, are present in a wide variety of eukaryotic species including metazoans and plants, but are absent from fungi. Plant and animal QSOXs differ in their active-site amino acid sequences and content of non-catalytic domains. The question arises, therefore, whether the Trx-Erv fusion has the same mechanistic significance in all QSOX enzymes, and whether shared features distinguish the functional domains of QSOX from other instances in which these domains occur independently. Through a study of QSOX phylogeny and an analysis of QSOX sequence diversity in light of recently determined three-dimensional structures, we sought insight into the origin and evolution of this multi-domain redox alliance. RESULTS: An updated collection of QSOX enzymes was used to confirm and refine the differences in domain composition and active-site sequence motif patterns of QSOXs belonging to various eukaryotic phyla. Beyond the expected phylogenetic distinction of animal and plant QSOX enzymes, trees based on individual redox-active QSOX domains show a particular distinction of the Trx domain early in plant evolution. A comparison of QSOX domains with Trx and Erv domains from outside the QSOX family revealed several sequence and structural features that clearly differentiate QSOXs from other enzymes containing either of these domains. Notably, these features, present in QSOXs of various phyla, localize to the interface between the Trx and Erv domains observed in structures of QSOX that model interdomain redox communication. CONCLUSIONS: The infrastructure for interdomain electron relay, previously identified for animal and parasite QSOXs, is found broadly across the QSOX family, including the plant enzymes. We conclude that the conserved three-dimensional framework of the QSOX catalytic domains accommodates lineage-specific differences and paralog diversification in the amino acid residues surrounding the redox-active cysteines. Our findings indicate that QSOX enzymes are characterized not just by the presence of the two defining domain folds but also by features that promote coordinated activity.

Acquired immunity of transgenic torenia plants overexpressing agmatine coumaroyltransferase to pathogens and herbivore pests.

We investigated the ability of transgenic torenia (Scrophulariaceae) plants to resist fungi and arthropod herbivores. Torenia hybrida cv. Summerwave Blue was manipulated to produce Arabidopsis agmatine coumaroyltransferase (AtACT). This catalyses the last step in the biosynthesis of hydroxycinnamic acid amides (HCAAs) which function in defence. Transgenic plants accumulated substantial HCAAs, predominantly p-coumaroylagmatine, and the HCAAs were isomerized from the trans-form to the cis-form in planta. The transgenic line, accumulated the highest amount of endogenous HCAAs (CouAgm at 32.2 µM and total HCAAs at 47.5 µM) and this line was resistant to the necrotrophic fungus, Botrytis cinerea. There was no resistance, however, in their wild-type progenitors or in other transgenic lines accumulating low HCAA amounts. In contrast, the transformants were not significantly resistant to three representative herbivores, Frankliniella occidentalis, Aphis gossypii, and Tetranychus ludeni.

A survey of green plant tRNA 3'-end processing enzyme tRNase Zs, homologs of the candidate prostate cancer susceptibility protein ELAC2.

BACKGROUND: tRNase Z removes the 3'-trailer sequences from precursor tRNAs, which is an essential step preceding the addition of the CCA sequence. tRNase Z exists in the short (tRNase ZS) and long (tRNase ZL) forms. Based on the sequence characteristics, they can be divided into two major types: bacterial-type tRNase ZS and eukaryotic-type tRNase ZL, and one minor type, Thermotoga maritima (TM)-type tRNase ZS. The number of tRNase Zs is highly variable, with the largest number being identified experimentally in the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. It is unknown whether multiple tRNase Zs found in A. thaliana is common to the plant kingdom. Also unknown is the extent of sequence and structural conservation among tRNase Zs from the plant kingdom. RESULTS: We report the identification and analysis of candidate tRNase Zs in 27 fully sequenced genomes of green plants, the great majority of which are flowering plants. It appears that green plants contain multiple distinct tRNase Zs predicted to reside in different subcellular compartments. Furthermore, while the bacterial-type tRNase ZSs are present only in basal land plants and green algae, the TM-type tRNase ZSs are widespread in green plants. The protein sequences of the TM-type tRNase ZSs identified in green plants are similar to those of the bacterial-type tRNase ZSs but have distinct features, including the TM-type flexible arm, the variant catalytic HEAT and HST motifs, and a lack of the PxKxRN motif involved in CCA anti-determination (inhibition of tRNase Z activity by CCA), which prevents tRNase Z cleavage of mature tRNAs. Examination of flowering plant chloroplast tRNA genes reveals that many of these genes encode partial CCA sequences. Based on our results and previous studies, we predict that the plant TM-type tRNase ZSs may not recognize the CCA sequence as an anti-determinant. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings substantially expand the current repertoire of the TM-type tRNase ZSs and hint at the possibility that these proteins may have been selected for their ability to process chloroplast pre-tRNAs with whole or partial CCA sequences. Our results also support the coevolution of tRNase Zs and tRNA 3'-trailer sequences in plants.

Evolution of xyloglucan-related genes in green plants.

BACKGROUND: The cell shape and morphology of plant tissues are intimately related to structural modifications in the primary cell wall that are associated with key processes in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation. The primary cell wall is composed mainly of cellulose immersed in a matrix of hemicellulose, pectin, lignin and some structural proteins. Xyloglucan is a hemicellulose polysaccharide present in the cell walls of all land plants (Embryophyta) and is the main hemicellulose in non-graminaceous angiosperms. RESULTS: In this work, we used a comparative genomic approach to obtain new insights into the evolution of the xyloglucan-related enzymatic machinery in green plants. Detailed phylogenetic analyses were done for enzymes involved in xyloglucan synthesis (xyloglucan transglycosylase/hydrolase, α-xylosidase, ß-galactosidase, ß-glucosidase and α-fucosidase) and mobilization/degradation (ß-(1→4)-glucan synthase, α-fucosyltransferases, ß-galactosyltransferases and α-xylosyl transferase) based on 12 fully sequenced genomes and expressed sequence tags from 29 species of green plants. Evidence from Chlorophyta and Streptophyta green algae indicated that part of the Embryophyta xyloglucan-related machinery evolved in an aquatic environment, before land colonization. Streptophyte algae have at least three enzymes of the xyloglucan machinery: xyloglucan transglycosylase/hydrolase, ß-(1→4)-glucan synthase from the cellulose synthase-like C family and α-xylosidase that is also present in chlorophytes. Interestingly, gymnosperm sequences orthologs to xyloglucan transglycosylase/hydrolases with exclusively hydrolytic activity were also detected, suggesting that such activity must have emerged within the last common ancestor of spermatophytes. There was a positive correlation between the numbers of founder genes within each gene family and the complexity of the plant cell wall. CONCLUSIONS: Our data support the idea that a primordial xyloglucan-like polymer emerged in streptophyte algae as a pre-adaptation that allowed plants to subsequently colonize terrestrial habitats. Our results also provide additional evidence that charophycean algae and land plants are sister groups.