Gene conversion in the rice genome

Meiotic recombination profiling of interspecific hybrid F1 tomato pollen by linked read sequencing

Genome wide screening of pooled pollen samples from a single interspecific F1 hybrid obtained from a cross between tomato, Solanum lycopersicum and its wild relative, Solanum pimpinellifolium using linked read sequencing of the haploid nuclei, allowed profiling of the crossover (CO) and gene conversion (GC) landscape. We observed a striking overlap between cold regions of CO in the male gametes and our previously established F6 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) population. COs were overrepresented in non-coding regions in the gene promoter and 5'UTR regions of genes. Poly-A/T and AT rich motifs were found enriched in 1 kb promoter regions flanking the CO sites. Non-crossover associated allelic and ectopic GCs were detected in most chromosomes, confirming that besides CO, GC represents also a source for genetic diversity and genome plasticity in tomato. Furthermore, we identified processed break junctions pointing at the involvement of both homology directed and non-homology directed repair pathways, suggesting a recombination machinery in tomato that is more complex than currently anticipated.

LTR Retrotransposons Show Low Levels of Unequal Recombination and High Rates of Intraelement Gene Conversion in Large Plant Genomes

The accumulation and removal of transposable elements (TEs) is a major driver of genome size evolution in eukaryotes. In plants, long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) represent the majority of TEs and form most of the nuclear DNA in large genomes. Unequal recombination (UR) between LTRs leads to removal of intervening sequence and formation of solo-LTRs. UR is a major mechanism of LTR-RT removal in many angiosperms, but our understanding of LTR-RT-associated recombination within the large, LTR-RT-rich genomes of conifers is quite limited. We employ a novel read-based methodology to estimate the relative rates of LTR-RT-associated UR within the genomes of four conifer and seven angiosperm species. We found the lowest rates of UR in the largest genomes studied, conifers and the angiosperm maize. Recombination may also resolve as gene conversion, which does not remove sequence, so we analyzed LTR-RT-associated gene conversion events (GCEs) in Norway spruce and six angiosperms. Opposite the trend for UR, we found the highest rates of GCEs in Norway spruce and maize. Unlike previous work in angiosperms, we found no evidence that rates of UR correlate with retroelement structural features in the conifers, suggesting that another process is suppressing UR in these species. Recent results from diverse eukaryotes indicate that heterochromatin affects the resolution of recombination, by favoring gene conversion over crossing-over, similar to our observation of opposed rates of UR and GCEs. Control of LTR-RT proliferation via formation of heterochromatin would be a likely step toward large genomes in eukaryotes carrying high LTR-RT content.

Valine-glutamine (VQ) motif coding genes are ancient and non-plant-specific with comprehensive expression regulation by various biotic and abiotic stresses

Background

Valine-glutamine (VQ) motif containing proteins play important roles in abiotic and biotic stress responses in plants. However, little is known about the origin and evolution as well as comprehensive expression regulation of the VQ gene family.

Results

In this study, we systematically surveyed this gene family in 50 plant genomes from algae, moss, gymnosperm and angiosperm and explored their presence in other species from animals, bacteria, fungi and viruses. No VQs were detected in all tested algae genomes and all genomes from moss, gymnosperm and angiosperm encode varying numbers of VQs. Interestingly, some of fungi, lower animals and bacteria also encode single to a few VQs. Thus, they are not plant-specific and should be regarded as an ancient family. Their family expansion was mainly due to segmental duplication followed by tandem duplication and mobile elements. Limited contribution of gene conversion was detected to the family evolution. Generally, VQs were very much conserved in their motif coding region and were under purifying selection. However, positive selection was also observed during species divergence. Many VQs were up- or down-regulated by various abiotic / biotic stresses and phytohormones in rice and Arabidopsis. They were also co-expressed with some of other stress-related genes. All of the expression data suggest a comprehensive expression regulation of the VQ gene family.

Conclusions

We provide new insights into gene expansion, divergence, evolution and their expression regulation of this VQ family. VQs were detectable not only in plants but also in some of fungi, lower animals and bacteria, suggesting the evolutionary conservation and the ancient origin. Overall, VQs are non-plant-specific and play roles in abiotic / biotic responses or other biological processes through comprehensive expression regulation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-4733-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Single-molecule sequencing resolves the detailed structure of complex satellite DNA loci in Drosophila melanogaster

Highly repetitive satellite DNA (satDNA) repeats are found in most eukaryotic genomes. SatDNAs are rapidly evolving and have roles in genome stability and chromosome segregation. Their repetitive nature poses a challenge for genome assembly and makes progress on the detailed study of satDNA structure difficult. Here, we use single-molecule sequencing long reads from Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) to determine the detailed structure of all major autosomal complex satDNA loci in Drosophila melanogaster, with a particular focus on the 260-bp and Responder satellites. We determine the optimal de novo assembly methods and parameter combinations required to produce a high-quality assembly of these previously unassembled satDNA loci and validate this assembly using molecular and computational approaches. We determined that the computationally intensive PBcR-BLASR assembly pipeline yielded better assemblies than the faster and more efficient pipelines based on the MHAP hashing algorithm, and it is essential to validate assemblies of repetitive loci. The assemblies reveal that satDNA repeats are organized into large arrays interrupted by transposable elements. The repeats in the center of the array tend to be homogenized in sequence, suggesting that gene conversion and unequal crossovers lead to repeat homogenization through concerted evolution, although the degree of unequal crossing over may differ among complex satellite loci. We find evidence for higher-order structure within satDNA arrays that suggest recent structural rearrangements. These assemblies provide a platform for the evolutionary and functional genomics of satDNAs in pericentric heterochromatin.

SNP Discovery Using a Pangenome: Has the Single Reference Approach Become Obsolete?

Increasing evidence suggests that a single individual is insufficient to capture the genetic diversity within a species due to gene presence absence variation. In order to understand the extent to which genomic variation occurs in a species, the construction of its pangenome is necessary. The pangenome represents the complete set of genes of a species; it is composed of core genes, which are present in all individuals, and variable genes, which are present only in some individuals. Aside from variations at the gene level, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are also an important form of genetic variation. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) coupled with the heritability of SNPs make them ideal markers for genetic analysis of human, animal, and microbial data. SNPs have also been extensively used in crop genetics for association mapping, quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis, analysis of genetic diversity, and phylogenetic analysis. This review focuses on the use of pangenomes for SNP discovery. It highlights the advantages of using a pangenome rather than a single reference for this purpose. This review also demonstrates how extra information not captured in a single reference alone can be used to provide additional support for linking genotypic data to phenotypic data.

Chromosome replacement and deletion lead to clonal polymorphism of berry color in grapevine

Clonal polymorphism mainly results from somatic mutations that occur naturally during plant growth. In grapevine, arrays of clones have been selected within varieties as a valuable source of diversity, among them clones showing berry color polymorphism. To identify mutations responsible for this color polymorphism, we studied a collection of 33 clones of Pinot noir, Pinot gris, and Pinot blanc. Haplotypes of the L2 cell layer of nine clones were resolved by genotyping self-progenies with molecular markers along a 10.07 Mb region of chromosome 2, including the color locus. We demonstrated that at least six haplotypes could account for the loss of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Four of them resulted from the replacement of sections of the 'colored' haplotype, sized from 31 kb to 4.4 Mb, by the homologous sections of the 'white' haplotype mutated at the color locus. This transfer of information between the two homologous sequences resulted in the partial homozygosity of chromosome 2, associated in one case with a large deletion of 108 kb-long. Moreover, we showed that, in most cases, somatic mutations do not affect the whole plant; instead, they affect only one cell layer, leading to periclinal chimeras associating two genotypes. Analysis of bud sports of Pinot gris support the hypothesis that cell layer rearrangements in the chimera lead to the homogenization of the genotype in the whole plant. Our findings shed new light on the way molecular and cellular mechanisms shape the grapevine genotypes during vegetative propagation, and enable us to propose a scheme of evolutionary mechanism of the Pinot clones.

A strategy for genome-wide identification of gene based polymorphisms in rice reveals non-synonymous variation and functional genotypic markers

The genetic diversity of plants has traditionally been employed to improve crop plants to suit human needs, and in the future feed the increasing population and protect crops from environmental stresses and climate change. Genome-wide sequencing is a reality and can be used to make association to crop traits to be utilized by high-throughput marker based selection methods. This study describes a strategy of using next generation sequencing (NGS) data from the rice genome to make comparisons to the high-quality reference genome, identify functional polymorphisms within genes that might result in function changes and be used to study correlations to traits and employed in genetic mapping. We analyzed the NGS data of Oryza sativa ssp indica cv. G4 covering 241 Mb with ∼20X coverage and compared to the reference genome of Oryza sativa ssp. japonica to describe the genome-wide distribution of gene-based single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The analysis shows that the 63% covered genome consists of 1.6 million SNPs with 6.9 SNPs/Kb, and including 80,146 insertions and 92,655 deletions (INDELs) genome-wide. There are a total of 1,139,801 intergenic SNPs, 295,136 SNPs in intronic/non-coding regions, 195,098 in coding regions, 23,242 SNPs at the five-prime (5′) UTR regions and 22,686 SNPs at the three-prime (3′) UTR region. SNP variation was found in 40,761 gene loci, which include 75,262 synonymous and 119,836 non-synonymous changes, and functional reading frame changes through 3,886 inducing STOP-codon (isSNP) and 729 preventing STOP-codon (psSNP) variation. There are quickly evolving 194 high SNP hotspot genes (>100 SNPs/gene), and 1,513 out of 2,458 transcription factors displaying 2,294 non-synonymous SNPs that can be a major source of phenotypic diversity within the species. All data is searchable at https://plantstress-pereira.uark.edu/oryza2. We envision that this strategy will be useful for the identification of genes for crop traits and molecular breeding of rice cultivars.

Insights into the evolution of cotton diploids and polyploids from whole-genome re-sequencing

Understanding the composition, evolution, and function of the Gossypium hirsutum (cotton) genome is complicated by the joint presence of two genomes in its nucleus (A_T and D_T genomes). These two genomes were derived from progenitor A-genome and D-genome diploids involved in ancestral allopolyploidization. To better understand the allopolyploid genome, we re-sequenced the genomes of extant diploid relatives that contain the A₁ (Gossypium herbaceum), A₂ (Gossypium arboreum), or D₅ (Gossypium raimondii) genomes. We conducted a comparative analysis using deep re-sequencing of multiple accessions of each diploid species and identified 24 million SNPs between the A-diploid and D-diploid genomes. These analyses facilitated the construction of a robust index of conserved SNPs between the A-genomes and D-genomes at all detected polymorphic loci. This index is widely applicable for read mapping efforts of other diploid and allopolyploid Gossypium accessions. Further analysis also revealed locations of putative duplications and deletions in the A-genome relative to the D-genome reference sequence. The approximately 25,400 deleted regions included more than 50% deletion of 978 genes, including many involved with starch synthesis. In the polyploid genome, we also detected 1,472 conversion events between homoeologous chromosomes, including events that overlapped 113 genes. Continued characterization of the Gossypium genomes will further enhance our ability to manipulate fiber and agronomic production of cotton.

Structural, functional, and evolutionary analysis of the unusually large stilbene synthase gene family in grapevine

Stilbenes are a small family of phenylpropanoids produced in a number of unrelated plant species, including grapevine (Vitis vinifera). In addition to their participation in defense mechanisms in plants, stilbenes, such as resveratrol, display important pharmacological properties and are postulated to be involved in the health benefits associated with a moderate consumption of red wine. Stilbene synthases (STSs), which catalyze the biosynthesis of the stilbene backbone, seem to have evolved from chalcone synthases (CHSs) several times independently in stilbene-producing plants. STS genes usually form small families of two to five closely related paralogs. By contrast, the sequence of grapevine reference genome (cv PN40024) has revealed an unusually large STS gene family. Here, we combine molecular evolution and structural and functional analyses to investigate further the high number of STS genes in grapevine. Our reannotation of the STS and CHS gene families yielded 48 STS genes, including at least 32 potentially functional ones. Functional characterization of nine genes representing most of the STS gene family diversity clearly indicated that these genes do encode for proteins with STS activity. Evolutionary analysis of the STS gene family revealed that both STS and CHS evolution are dominated by purifying selection, with no evidence for strong selection for new functions among STS genes. However, we found a few sites under different selection pressures in CHS and STS sequences, whose potential functional consequences are discussed using a structural model of a typical STS from grapevine that we developed.

Very low rate of gene conversion in the yeast genome

Gene duplication is a major driver of organismal adaptation and evolution and plays an important role in multiple human diseases. Whole-genome analyses have shown similar and high rates of gene duplication across a variety of eukaryotic species. Most of these studies, however, did not address the possible impact of interlocus gene conversion (IGC) on the evolution of gene duplicates. Because IGC homogenizes pairs of duplicates, widespread conversion would cause gene duplication events that happened long ago to appear more recent, resulting in artificially high estimates of duplication rates. Although the majority of genome-wide studies (including in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae [Scer]) point to levels of IGC between paralogs ranging from 2% to 18%, Gao and Innan (Gao LZ, Innan H. 2004. Very low gene duplication rate in the yeast genome. Science 306:1367-1370.) found that gene conversion in yeast affected >80% of paralog pairs. If conversion rates really are this high, it would imply that the rate of gene duplication in eukaryotes is much lower than previously reported. In this work, we apply four different methodologies-including one approach that closely mirrors Gao and Innan's method-to estimate the level of IGC in Scer. Our analyses point to a maximum conversion level of 13% between paralogs in this species, in close agreement with most estimates of IGC in eukaryotes. We also show that the exceedingly high levels of conversion found previously derive from application of an accurate method to an inappropriate data set. In conclusion, our work provides the most striking evidence to date supporting the reduced incidence of IGC among Scer paralogs and sets up a framework for future analyses in other eukaryotes.

Gene Conversion-Like Events in the Diversification of Human Rearranged IGHV3-23*01 Gene Sequences

Gene conversion (GCV), a mechanism mediated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is well established as a mechanism of immunoglobulin diversification in a few species. However, definitive evidence of GCV-like events in human immunoglobulin genes is scarce. The lack of evidence of GCV in human rearranged immunoglobulin gene sequences is puzzling given the presence of highly similar germline donors and the presence of all the enzymatic machinery required for GCV. In this study, we undertook a computational analysis of rearranged IGHV3-23(*)01 gene sequences from common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients, AID-deficient patients, and healthy individuals to survey "GCV-like" activities. We analyzed rearranged IGHV3-23(*)01 gene sequences obtained from total PBMC RNA and single-cell polymerase chain reaction of individual B cell lysates. Our search identified strong evidence of GCV-like activity. We observed that GCV-like tracts are flanked by AID hotspot motifs. Structural modeling of IGHV3-23(*)01 gene sequence revealed that hypermutable bases flanking GCV-like tracts are in the single stranded DNA (ssDNA) of stable stem-loop structures (SLSs). ssDNA is inherently fragile and also an optimal target for AID. We speculate that GCV could have been initiated by the targeting of hypermutable bases in ssDNA state in stable SLSs, plausibly by AID. We have observed that the frequency of GCV-like events is significantly higher in rearranged IGHV3-23-(*)01 sequences from healthy individuals compared to that of CVID patients. We did not observe GCV-like events in rearranged IGHV3-23-(*)01 sequences from AID-deficient patients. GCV, unlike somatic hypermutation (SHM), can result in multiple base substitutions that can alter many amino acids. The extensive changes in antibody affinity by GCV-like events would be instrumental in protecting humans against pathogens that diversify their genome by antigenic shift.

Genome-wide comparison of nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat-encoding genes in Arabidopsis

Plants, like animals, use several lines of defense against pathogen attack. Prominent among genes that confer disease resistance are those encoding nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins. Likely due to selection pressures caused by pathogens, NB-LRR genes are the most variable gene family in plants, but there appear to be species-specific limits to the number of NB-LRR genes in a genome. Allelic diversity within an individual is also increased by obligatory outcrossing, which leads to genome-wide heterozygosity. In this study, we compared the NB-LRR gene complement of the selfer Arabidopsis thaliana and its outcrossing close relative Arabidopsis lyrata. We then complemented and contrasted the interspecific patterns with studies of NB-LRR diversity within A. thaliana. Three important insights are as follows: (1) that both species have similar numbers of NB-LRR genes; (2) that loci with single NB-LRR genes are less variable than tandem arrays; and (3) that presence-absence polymorphisms within A. thaliana are not strongly correlated with the presence or absence of orthologs in A. lyrata. Although A. thaliana individuals are mostly homozygous and thus potentially less likely to suffer from aberrant interaction of NB-LRR proteins with newly introduced alleles, the number of NB-LRR genes is similar to that in A. lyrata. In intraspecific and interspecific comparisons, NB-LRR genes are also more variable than receptor-like protein genes. Finally, in contrast to Drosophila, there is a clearly positive relationship between interspecific divergence and intraspecific polymorphisms.

Evolutionary patterns of recently emerged animal duplogs

Duplogs, or intraspecies paralogs, constitute the important portion of eukaryote genomes and serve as a major source of functional innovation. We conducted detailed analyses of recently emerged animal duplogs. Genome data of three vertebrate species (Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, and Danio rerio), Caenorhabditis elegans, and two Drosophila species (Drosophila melanogaster and D. pseudoobscura) were used. Duplication events were divided into six age-groups according to the synonymous distance (dS) up to 0.6. Duplogs were classified into four equal-sized classes on physical distances and into three classes on relative orientations. We observed the following shared characteristics among intrachromosomal multiexon duplogs: 1) inverted duplogs account for 20-50%, and about a half of the physically most distant 25%; 2) except for C. elegans, the composition of physical distances, that of relative orientations, and the proportion of inverted duplogs in each physical distance category are more or less uniform; 3) except for C. elegans, the characteristics of the youngest (dS < 0.01) duplogs are similar to the overall characteristics of the entire set. These results suggest that intrachromosomal duplogs with fairly long physical distances were generated at once, rather than resulting from tandem duplications and subsequent genomic rearrangements. This is different from the three well-known modes of gene duplication: tandem duplication, retrotransposition, and genome duplication. We termed this new mode as "drift" duplication. The drift duplication has been producing duplicate copies at paces comparable with tandem duplications since the common ancestor of vertebrates, and it may have already operated in the common ancestor of bilateral animals.

Annelid Distal-less/Dlx duplications reveal varied post-duplication fates

Background

Dlx (Distal-less) genes have various developmental roles and are widespread throughout the animal kingdom, usually occurring as single copy genes in non-chordates and as multiple copies in most chordate genomes. While the genomic arrangement and function of these genes is well known in vertebrates and arthropods, information about Dlx genes in other organisms is scarce. We investigate the presence of Dlx genes in several annelid species and examine Dlx gene expression in the polychaete Pomatoceros lamarckii.

Results

Two Dlx genes are present in P. lamarckii, Capitella teleta and Helobdella robusta. The C. teleta Dlx genes are closely linked in an inverted tail-to-tail orientation, reminiscent of the arrangement of vertebrate Dlx pairs, and gene conversion appears to have had a role in their evolution. The H. robusta Dlx genes, however, are not on the same genomic scaffold and display divergent sequences, while, if the P. lamarckii genes are linked in a tail-to-tail orientation they are a minimum of 41 kilobases apart and show no sign of gene conversion. No expression in P. lamarckii appendage development has been observed, which conflicts with the supposed conserved role of these genes in animal appendage development. These Dlx duplications do not appear to be annelid-wide, as the polychaete Platynereis dumerilii likely possesses only one Dlx gene.

Conclusions

On the basis of the currently accepted annelid phylogeny, we hypothesise that one Dlx duplication occurred in the annelid lineage after the divergence of P. dumerilii from the other lineages and these duplicates then had varied evolutionary fates in different species. We also propose that the ancestral role of Dlx genes is not related to appendage development.

Long-range and targeted ectopic recombination between the two homeologous chromosomes 11 and 12 in Oryza species

Whole genome duplication (WGD) and subsequent evolution of gene pairs have been shown to have shaped the present day genomes of most, if not all, plants and to have played an essential role in the evolution of many eukaryotic genomes. Analysis of the rice (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica) genome sequence suggested an ancestral WGD ∼50-70 Ma common to all cereals and a segmental duplication between chromosomes 11 and 12 as recently as 5 Ma. More recent studies based on coding sequences have demonstrated that gene conversion is responsible for the high sequence conservation which suggested such a recent duplication. We previously showed that gene conversion has been a recurrent process throughout the Oryza genus and in closely related species and that orthologous duplicated regions are also highly conserved in other cereal genomes. We have extended these studies to compare megabase regions of genomic (coding and noncoding) sequences between two cultivated (O. sativa, Oryza glaberrima) and one wild (Oryza brachyantha) rice species using a novel approach of topological incongruency. The high levels of intraspecies conservation of both gene and nongene sequences, particularly in O. brachyantha, indicate long-range conversion events less than 4 Ma in all three species. These observations demonstrate megabase-scale conversion initiated within a highly rearranged region located at ∼2.1 Mb from the chromosome termini and emphasize the importance of gene conversion in cereal genome evolution.

An effective method for detecting gene conversion events in whole genomes

Gene conversion events are often overlooked in analyses of genome evolution. In a conversion event, an interval of DNA sequence (not necessarily containing a gene) overwrites a highly similar sequence. The event creates relationships among genomic intervals that can confound attempts to identify orthologs and to transfer functional annotation between genomes. Here we examine 1,616,329 paralogous pairs of mouse genomic intervals, and detect conversion events in about 7.5% of them. Properties of the putative gene conversions are analyzed, such as the lengths of the paralogous pairs and the spacing between their sources and targets. Our approach is illustrated using conversion events in primate CCL gene clusters. Source code for our program is included in the 3SEQ_2D package, which is freely available at www.bx.psu.edu/miller_lab/ .

ZINC-INDUCED FACILITATOR-LIKE family in plants: lineage-specific expansion in monocotyledons and conserved genomic and expression features among rice (Oryza sativa) paralogs

BACKGROUND

Duplications are very common in the evolution of plant genomes, explaining the high number of members in plant gene families. New genes born after duplication can undergo pseudogenization, neofunctionalization or subfunctionalization. Rice is a model for functional genomics research, an important crop for human nutrition and a target for biofortification. Increased zinc and iron content in the rice grain could be achieved by manipulation of metal transporters. Here, we describe the ZINC-INDUCED FACILITATOR-LIKE (ZIFL) gene family in plants, and characterize the genomic structure and expression of rice paralogs, which are highly affected by segmental duplication.

RESULTS

Sequences of sixty-eight ZIFL genes, from nine plant species, were comparatively analyzed. Although related to MSF_1 proteins, ZIFL protein sequences consistently grouped separately. Specific ZIFL sequence signatures were identified. Monocots harbor a larger number of ZIFL genes in their genomes than dicots, probably a result of a lineage-specific expansion. The rice ZIFL paralogs were named OsZIFL1 to OsZIFL13 and characterized. The genomic organization of the rice ZIFL genes seems to be highly influenced by segmental and tandem duplications and concerted evolution, as rice genome contains five highly similar ZIFL gene pairs. Most rice ZIFL promoters are enriched for the core sequence of the Fe-deficiency-related box IDE1. Gene expression analyses of different plant organs, growth stages and treatments, both from our qPCR data and from microarray databases, revealed that the duplicated ZIFL gene pairs are mostly co-expressed. Transcripts of OsZIFL4, OsZIFL5, OsZIFL7, and OsZIFL12 accumulate in response to Zn-excess and Fe-deficiency in roots, two stresses with partially overlapping responses.

CONCLUSIONS

We suggest that ZIFL genes have different evolutionary histories in monocot and dicot lineages. In rice, concerted evolution affected ZIFL duplicated genes, possibly maintaining similar expression patterns between pairs. The enrichment for IDE1 boxes in rice ZIFL gene promoters suggests a role in Zn-excess and Fe-deficiency up-regulation of ZIFL transcripts. Moreover, this is the first description of the ZIFL gene family in plants and the basis for functional studies on this family, which may play important roles in Zn and Fe homeostasis in plants.

Gene conversion in angiosperm genomes with an emphasis on genes duplicated by polyploidization

Angiosperm genomes differ from those of mammals by extensive and recursive polyploidizations. The resulting gene duplication provides opportunities both for genetic innovation, and for concerted evolution. Though most genes may escape conversion by their homologs, concerted evolution of duplicated genes can last for millions of years or longer after their origin. Indeed, paralogous genes on two rice chromosomes duplicated an estimated 60–70 million years ago have experienced gene conversion in the past 400,000 years. Gene conversion preserves similarity of paralogous genes, but appears to accelerate their divergence from orthologous genes in other species. The mutagenic nature of recombination coupled with the buffering effect provided by gene redundancy, may facilitate the evolution of novel alleles that confer functional innovations while insulating biological fitness of affected plants. A mixed evolutionary model, characterized by a primary birth-and-death process and occasional homoeologous recombination and gene conversion, may best explain the evolution of multigene families.

Functional annotation, genome organization and phylogeny of the grapevine (Vitis vinifera) terpene synthase gene family based on genome assembly, FLcDNA cloning, and enzyme assays

BACKGROUND

Terpenoids are among the most important constituents of grape flavour and wine bouquet, and serve as useful metabolite markers in viticulture and enology. Based on the initial 8-fold sequencing of a nearly homozygous Pinot noir inbred line, 89 putative terpenoid synthase genes (VvTPS) were predicted by in silico analysis of the grapevine (Vitis vinifera) genome assembly 1. The finding of this very large VvTPS family, combined with the importance of terpenoid metabolism for the organoleptic properties of grapevine berries and finished wines, prompted a detailed examination of this gene family at the genomic level as well as an investigation into VvTPS biochemical functions.

RESULTS

We present findings from the analysis of the up-dated 12-fold sequencing and assembly of the grapevine genome that place the number of predicted VvTPS genes at 69 putatively functional VvTPS, 20 partial VvTPS, and 63 VvTPS probable pseudogenes. Gene discovery and annotation included information about gene architecture and chromosomal location. A dense cluster of 45 VvTPS is localized on chromosome 18. Extensive FLcDNA cloning, gene synthesis, and protein expression enabled functional characterization of 39 VvTPS; this is the largest number of functionally characterized TPS for any species reported to date. Of these enzymes, 23 have unique functions and/or phylogenetic locations within the plant TPS gene family. Phylogenetic analyses of the TPS gene family showed that while most VvTPS form species-specific gene clusters, there are several examples of gene orthology with TPS of other plant species, representing perhaps more ancient VvTPS, which have maintained functions independent of speciation.

CONCLUSIONS

The highly expanded VvTPS gene family underpins the prominence of terpenoid metabolism in grapevine. We provide a detailed experimental functional annotation of 39 members of this important gene family in grapevine and comprehensive information about gene structure and phylogeny for the entire currently known VvTPS gene family.

Structure, allelic diversity and selection of Asr genes, candidate for drought tolerance, in Oryza sativa L. and wild relatives

Asr (ABA, stress, ripening) genes represent a small gene family potentially involved in drought tolerance in several plant species. To analyze their interest for rice breeding for water-limited environments, this gene family was characterized further. Genomic organization of the gene family reveals six members located on four different chromosomes and with the same exon-intron structure. The maintenance of six members of the Asr gene family, which are the result of combination between tandem duplication and whole genome duplication, and their differential regulation under water stress, involves probably some sub-functionalization. The polymorphism of four members was studied in a worldwide collection of 204 accessions of Oryza sativa L. and 14 accessions of wild relatives (O. rufipogon and O. nivara). The nucleotide diversity of the Asr genes was globally low, but contrasted for the different genes, leading to different shapes of haplotype networks. Statistical tests for neutrality were used and compared to their distribution in a set of 111 reference genes spread across the genome, derived from another published study. Asr3 diversity exhibited a pattern concordant with a balancing selection at the species level and with a directional selection in the tropical japonica sub-group. This study provides a thorough description of the organization of the Asr family, and the nucleotide and haplotype diversity of four Asr in Oryza sativa species. Asr3 stood out as the best potential candidate. The polymorphism detected here represents a first step towards an association study between genetic polymorphisms of this gene family and variation in drought tolerance traits.

Natural diversity in flowering responses of Arabidopsis thaliana caused by variation in a tandem gene array

Tandemly arrayed genes that belong to gene families characterize genomes of many organisms. Gene duplication and subsequent relaxation of selection can lead to the establishment of paralogous cluster members that may evolve along different trajectories. Here, we report on the structural variation in MADS AFFECTING FLOWERING 2 (MAF2) gene, one member of the tandemly duplicated cluster of MADS-box-containing transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana. The altered gene structure at the MAF2 locus is present as a moderate-frequency polymorphism in Arabidopsis and leads to the extensive diversity in transcript patterns due to alternative splicing. Rearrangements at the MAF2 locus are associated with an early flowering phenotype in BC(5) lines. The lack of suppression of flowering time in a MAF2-insertion line expressing the MAF2-specific artificial miRNA suggests that these MAF2 variants are behaving as loss-of-function alleles. The variation in gene architecture is also associated with segregation distortion, which may have facilitated the spread and the establishment of the corresponding alleles throughout the Eurasian range of the A. thaliana population.

Protein phosphatase 2B (PP2B, calcineurin) in Paramecium: partial characterization reveals that two members of the unusually large catalytic subunit family have distinct roles in calcium-dependent processes

We characterized the calcineurin (CaN) gene family, including the subunits CaNA and CaNB, based upon sequence information obtained from the Paramecium genome project. Paramecium tetraurelia has seven subfamilies of the catalytic CaNA subunit and one subfamily of the regulatory CaNB subunit, with each subfamily having two members of considerable identity on the amino acid level (>or=55% between subfamilies, >or=94% within CaNA subfamilies, and full identity in the CaNB subfamily). Within CaNA subfamily members, the catalytic domain and the CaNB binding region are highly conserved and molecular modeling revealed a three-dimensional structure almost identical to a human ortholog. At 14 members, the size of the CaNA family is unprecedented, and we hypothesized that the different CaNA subfamily members were not strictly redundant and that at least some fulfill different roles in the cell. This was tested by selecting two phylogenetically distinct members of this large family for posttranscriptional silencing by RNA interference. The two targets resulted in differing effects in exocytosis, calcium dynamics, and backward swimming behavior that supported our hypothesis that the large, highly conserved CaNA family members are not strictly redundant and that at least two members have evolved diverse but overlapping functions. In sum, the occurrence of CaN in Paramecium spp., although disputed in the past, has been established on a molecular level. Its role in exocytosis and ciliary beat regulation in a protozoan, as well as in more complex organisms, suggests that these roles for CaN were acquired early in the evolution of this protein family.

Homoeologous nonreciprocal recombination in polyploid cotton

Polyploid formation and processes that create partial genomic duplication generate redundant genomic information, whose fate is of particular interest to evolutionary biologists. Different processes can lead to diversification among duplicate genes, which may be counterbalanced by mechanisms that retard divergence, including gene conversion via nonreciprocal homoeologous exchange. Here, we used genomic resources in diploid and allopolyploid cotton (Gossypium) to detect homoeologous single nucleotide polymorphisms provided by expressed sequence tags from G. arboreum (A genome), G. raimondii (D genome) and G. hirsutum (AD genome), allowing us to identify homoeo-single nucleotide polymorphism patterns indicative of potential homoeologous exchanges. We estimated the proportion of contigs in G. hirsutum that have experienced nonreciprocal homoeologous exchanges since the origin of polyploid cotton 1-2 million years ago (Mya) to be between 1.8% and 1.9%. To address the question of when the intergenomic exchange occurred, we assayed six of the genes affected by homoeo-recombination in all five Gossypium allopolyploids using a phylogenetic approach. This analysis revealed that nonreciprocal homoeologous exchanges have occurred throughout polyploid divergence and speciation, as opposed to saltationally with polyploid formation. In addition, some genomic regions show multiple patterns of homoeologous recombination among species.

Nonallelic gene conversion in the genus Drosophila

Nonallelic gene conversion has been proposed as a major force in homogenizing the sequences of paralogous genes. In this work, we investigate the extent and characteristics of gene conversion among gene families in nine species of the genus Drosophila. We carried out a genome-wide study of 2855 gene families (including 17,742 genes) and determined that conversion events involved 2628 genes. The proportion of converted genes ranged across species from 1 to 9% when paralogs of all ages were included. Although higher levels of gene conversion were found among young gene duplicates, at most 1-2% of the coding sequences of these duplicates were affected by conversion. Using a second approach relying on gene family size changes and gene-tree/species-tree reconciliation methods, we estimate that only 1-15% of gene trees are misled by gene conversion, depending on the lineage considered. Several features of paralogous genes correlate with gene conversion, such as intra-/interchromosomal location, level of nucleotide divergence, and GC content, although we found no definitive evidence for biased substitution patterns. After considering species-specific differences in the age and distance between paralogs, we found a highly significant difference in the amount of gene conversion among species. In particular, members of the melanogaster group showed the lowest proportion of converted genes. Our data therefore suggest underlying differences in the mechanistic basis of gene conversion among species.

ACC oxidase genes expressed in the wood-forming tissues of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) include a pair of nearly identical paralogs (NIPs)

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase catalyzes the final reaction of the ethylene biosynthetic pathway, converting the unusual cyclic amino acid, ACC, into ethylene. Past studies have shown a possible link between ethylene and compression wood formation in conifers, but the relationship has received no more than modest study at the gene expression level. In this study, a cDNA clone encoding a putative ACC oxidase, PtACO1, was isolated from a cDNA library produced using mRNA from lignifying xylem of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) trunk wood. The cDNA clone comprised an open reading frame of 1461 bp encoding a protein of 333 amino acids. Using PCR amplification techniques, a genomic clone corresponding to PtACO1 was isolated and shown to contain three introns with typical GT/AG boundaries defining the splice junctions. The PtACO1 gene product shared 70% identity with an ACC oxidase from European white birch (Betula pendula), and phylogenetic analyses clearly placed the gene product in the ACC oxidase cluster of the Arabidopsis thaliana 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase superfamily tree. The PtACO1 sequence was used to identify additional ACC oxidase clones from loblolly pine root cDNA libraries characterized as part of an expressed sequence tag (EST) discovery project. The PtACO1 sequence was also used to recover additional paralogous sequences from genomic DNA, one of which (PtACO2) turned out to be >98% identical to PtACO1 in the nucleotide coding sequence, leading to its classification as a "nearly identical paralog" (NIP). Quantitative PCR analyses showed that the expression level of PtACO1-like transcripts varied in different tissues, as well as in response to hormonal treatments and bending. Possible roles for PtACO1 in compression wood formation in loblolly pine and the discovery of its NIP are discussed in light of these results.

The powdery mildew resistance gene REN1 co-segregates with an NBS-LRR gene cluster in two Central Asian grapevines

BACKGROUND

Grape powdery mildew is caused by the North American native pathogen Erysiphe necator. Eurasian Vitis vinifera varieties were all believed to be susceptible. REN1 is the first resistance gene naturally found in cultivated plants of Vitis vinifera.

RESULTS

REN1 is present in 'Kishmish vatkana' and 'Dzhandzhal kara', two grapevines documented in Central Asia since the 1920's. These cultivars have a second-degree relationship (half sibs, grandparent-grandchild, or avuncular), and share by descent the chromosome on which the resistance allele REN1 is located. The REN1 interval was restricted to 1.4 cM using 38 SSR markers distributed across the locus and the segregation of the resistance phenotype in two progenies of collectively 461 offspring, derived from either resistant parent. The boundary markers delimit a 1.4-Mbp sequence in the PN40024 reference genome, which contains 27 genes with known functions, 2 full-length coiled-coil NBS-LRR genes, and 9 NBS-LRR pseudogenes. In the REN1 locus of PN40024, NBS genes have proliferated through a mixture of segmental duplications, tandem gene duplications, and intragenic recombination between paralogues, indicating that the REN1 locus has been inherently prone to producing genetic variation. Three SSR markers co-segregate with REN1, the outer ones confining the 908-kb array of NBS-LRR genes. Kinship and clustering analyses based on genetic distances with susceptible cultivars representative of Central Asian Vitis vinifera indicated that 'Kishmish vatkana' and 'Dzhandzhal kara' fit well into local germplasm. 'Kishmish vatkana' also has a parent-offspring relationship with the seedless table grape 'Sultanina'. In addition, the distant genetic relatedness to rootstocks, some of which are derived from North American species resistant to powdery mildew and have been used worldwide to guard against phylloxera since the late 1800's, argues against REN1 being infused into Vitis vinifera from a recent interspecific hybridisation.

CONCLUSION

The REN1 gene resides in an NBS-LRR gene cluster tightly delimited by two flanking SSR markers, which can assist in the selection of this DNA block in breeding between Vitis vinifera cultivars. The REN1 locus has multiple layers of structural complexity compared with its two closely related paralogous NBS clusters, which are located some 5 Mbp upstream and 4 Mbp downstream of the REN1 interval on the same chromosome.

Gene duplication, transfer, and evolution in the chloroplast genome

In addition to the nuclear genome, organisms have organelle genomes. Most of the DNA present in eukaryotic organisms is located in the cell nucleus. Chloroplasts have independent genomes which are inherited from the mother. Duplicated genes are common in the genomes of all organisms. It is believed that gene duplication is the most important step for the origin of genetic variation, leading to the creation of new genes and new gene functions. Despite the fact that extensive gene duplications are rare among the chloroplast genome, gene duplication in the chloroplast genome is an essential source of new genetic functions and a mechanism of neo-evolution. The events of gene transfer between the chloroplast genome and nuclear genome via duplication and subsequent recombination are important processes in evolution. The duplicated gene or genome in the nucleus has been the subject of several recent reviews. In this review, we will briefly summarize gene duplication and evolution in the chloroplast genome. Also, we will provide an overview of gene transfer events between chloroplast and nuclear genomes.

A uniquely high number of ftsZ genes in the moss Physcomitrella patens

Plant FtsZ proteins are encoded by two small nuclear gene families (FtsZ1 and FtsZ2) and are involved in chloroplast division. From the moss Physcomitrella patens, four FtsZ proteins, two in each nuclear gene family, have been characterised and described so far. In the recently sequenced P. patens genome, we have now found a fifth ftsZ gene. This novel gene has a genomic structure similar to PpftsZ1-1. According to phylogenetic analysis, the encoded protein is a member of the FtsZ1 family, while PpFtsZ1-2, together with an orthologue from Selaginella moellendorffii, forms a separate clade. Further, this new gene is expressed in different gametophytic tissues and the encoded protein forms filamentous networks in chloroplasts, is found in stromules, and acts in plastid division. Based on all these results, we have renamed the PpFtsZ proteins of family 1 and suggest the existence of a third FtsZ family. No species is known to encode more FtsZ proteins per haploid genome than P. patens.

Identifying concerted evolution and gene conversion in mammalian gene pairs lasting over 100 million years

BACKGROUND

Concerted evolution occurs in multigene families and is characterized by stretches of homogeneity and higher sequence similarity between paralogues than between orthologues. Here we identify human gene pairs that have undergone concerted evolution, caused by ongoing gene conversion, since at least the human-mouse divergence. Our strategy involved the identification of duplicated genes with greater similarity within a species than between species. These genes were required to be present in multiple mammalian genomes, suggesting duplication early in mammalian divergence. To eliminate genes that have been conserved due to strong purifying selection, our analysis also required at least one intron to have retained high sequence similarity between paralogues.

RESULTS

We identified three human gene pairs undergoing concerted evolution (BMP8A/B, DDX19A/B, and TUBG1/2). Phylogenetic investigations reveal that in each case the duplication appears to have occurred prior to eutherian mammalian radiation, with exactly two paralogues present in all examined species. This indicates that all three gene duplication events were established over 100 million years ago.

CONCLUSION

The extended duration of concerted evolution in multiple distant lineages suggests that there has been prolonged homogenization of specific segments within these gene pairs. Although we speculate that selection for homogenization could have been utilized in order to maintain crucial homo- or hetero- binding domains, it remains unclear why gene conversion has persisted for such extended periods of time. Through these analyses, our results demonstrate additional examples of a process that plays a definite, although unspecified, role in molecular evolution.

Comparative inference of illegitimate recombination between rice and sorghum duplicated genes produced by polyploidization

Whole-genome duplication produces massive duplicated blocks in plant genomes. Sharing appreciable sequence similarity, duplicated blocks may have been affected by illegitimate recombination. However, large-scale evaluation of illegitimate recombination in plant genomes has not been possible previously. Here, based on comparative and phylogenetic analysis of the sequenced genomes of rice and sorghum, we report evidence of extensive and long-lasting recombination between duplicated blocks. We estimated that at least 5.5% and 4.1% of rice and sorghum duplicated genes have been affected by nonreciprocal recombination (gene conversion) over nearly their full length after rice-sorghum divergence, while even more (8.7% and 8.1%, respectively) have been converted over portions of their length. We found that conversion occurs in higher frequency toward the terminal regions of chromosomes, and expression patterns of converted genes are more positively correlated than nonconverted ones. Though converted paralogs are more similar to one another than nonconverted ones, elevated nucleotide differences between rice-sorghum orthologs indicates that they have evolved at a faster rate, implying that recombination acts as an accelerating, rather than a conservative, element. The converted genes show no change in selection pressure. We also found no evidence that conversion contributed to guanine-cytosine (GC) content elevation.

Conserved noncoding sequences (CNSs) in higher plants

Plant conserved noncoding sequences (CNSs)--a specific category of phylogenetic footprint--have been shown experimentally to function. No plant CNS is conserved to the extent that ultraconserved noncoding sequences are conserved in vertebrates. Plant CNSs are enriched in known transcription factor or other cis-acting binding sites, and are usually clustered around genes. Genes that encode transcription factors and/or those that respond to stimuli are particularly CNS-rich. Only rarely could this function involve small RNA binding. Some transcribed CNSs encode short translation products as a form of negative control. Approximately 4% of Arabidopsis gene content is estimated to be both CNS-rich and occupies a relatively long stretch of chromosome: Bigfoot genes (long phylogenetic footprints). We discuss a 'DNA-templated protein assembly' idea that might help explain Bigfoot gene CNSs.