Duplication and transcriptional divergence of three Kunitz protease inhibitor genes that modulate insect and pathogen defenses in tea plant (Camellia sinensis).

ABSTRACT: Kunitz protease inhibitors (KPIs) are ubiquitous in plants and act as crucial compounds in defense responses against insect attack and pathogen infection. However, the influence of gene duplication on the postdivergence of the CsKPI genes involved in biotic stresses in tea plant is not well known. Here, we identified three CsKPI genes from tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and characterized their expression and evolutionary patterns among plant species. We found that CsKPI1, CsKPI2, and CsKPI3 diverged from their common ancestor 72.94 million years ago (MYA), and the tandem duplication of CsKPI2 and CsKPI3 occurred 26.78 MYA. An in vitro protein assay showed that the three CsKPI proteins were functional and inhibited the production of

SUBMITTER: Zhu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6856355 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature