Positively selected amino acid replacements within the RuBisCO enzyme of oak trees are associated with ecological adaptations.

ABSTRACT: Phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood (PAML) has become the standard approach to study positive selection at the molecular level, but other methods may provide complementary ways to identify amino acid replacements associated with particular conditions. Here, we compare results of the decision tree (DT) model method with ones of PAML using the key photosynthetic enzyme RuBisCO as a model system to study molecular adaptation to particular ecological conditions in oaks (Quercus). We sequenced the chloroplast rbcL gene encoding RuBisCO large subunit in 158 Quercus species, covering about a third of the global genus diversity. It has been hypothesized that RuBisCO has evolved differentially depending on the environmental conditions and leaf traits governing internal gas diffusion pattern

SUBMITTER: Hermida-Carrera C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5578625 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature