Signature of diversifying selection on members of the pentatricopeptide repeat protein family in Arabidopsis lyrata.

ABSTRACT: Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins compose a family of nuclear-encoded transcriptional regulators of cytoplasmic genes. They have shown dramatic expansion in copy number in plants, and although the functional importance of many remains unclear, a subset has been repeatedly implicated as nuclear restorers for cytoplasmic male sterility. Here we investigate the molecular population genetics and molecular evolution of seven single-copy PPR genes in the outcrossing model plant Arabidopsis lyrata. In comparison with neutral reference loci, we find, on average, elevated levels of polymorphism and an excess of high-frequency variants at these PPR genes, suggesting that natural selection is maintaining polymorphism at some of these loci. This elevation in diversity persists when we control fo

SUBMITTER: Foxe JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2766325 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature