Diversifying selection of the anthocyanin biosynthetic downstream gene UFGT accelerates floral diversity of island Scutellaria species.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Adaptive divergence, which usually explains rapid diversification within island species, might involve the positive selection of genes. Anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway (ABP) genes are important for floral diversity, and are related to stress resistance and pollination, which could be responsible for species diversification. Previous studies have shown that upstream genes of ABP are subject to selective constraints and have a slow evolutionary rate, while the constraints on downstream genes are lower.

Results

In this study, we confirmed these earlier observations of heterogeneous evolutionary rate in upstream gene CHS and the downstream gene UFGT, both of which were expressed in Scutellaria sp. inflorescence buds. We found a higher evolutionary rate and positive s

SUBMITTER: Huang BH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5027097 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature