Tandem gene duplications drive divergent evolution of caffeine and crocin biosynthetic pathways in plants.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Plants have evolved a panoply of specialized metabolites that increase their environmental fitness. Two examples are caffeine, a purine psychotropic alkaloid, and crocins, a group of glycosylated apocarotenoid pigments. Both classes of compounds are found in a handful of distantly related plant genera (Coffea, Camellia, Paullinia, and Ilex for caffeine; Crocus, Buddleja, and Gardenia for crocins) wherein they presumably evolved through convergent evolution. The closely related Coffea and Gardenia genera belong to the Rubiaceae family and synthesize, respectively, caffeine and crocins in their fruits.

Results

Here, we report a chromosomal-level genome assembly of Gardenia jasminoides, a crocin-producing species, obtained using Oxford Nanopore sequencing and Hi-C te

SUBMITTER: Xu Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7302004 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature