Identification of positive selection in disease response genes within members of the Poaceae.

ABSTRACT: Millions of years of coevolution between plants and pathogens can leave footprints on their genomes and genes involved on this interaction are expected to show patterns of positive selection in which novel, beneficial alleles are rapidly fixed within the population. Using information about upregulated genes in maize during Colletotrichum graminicola infection and resources available in the Phytozome database, we looked for evidence of positive selection in the Poaceae lineage, acting on protein coding sequences related with plant defense. We found six genes with evidence of positive selection and another eight with sites showing episodic selection. Some of them have already been described as evolving under positive selection, but others are reported here for the first time including genes

SUBMITTER: Rech GE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3578908 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature