The long road of functional recruitment-The evolution of a gene duplicate to pyrrolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis in the morning glories (Convolvulaceae).

ABSTRACT: In plants, homospermidine synthase (HSS) is a pathway-specific enzyme initiating the biosynthesis of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), which function as a chemical defense against herbivores. In PA-producing Convolvulaceae ("morning glories"), HSS originated from deoxyhypusine synthase at least >50 to 75 million years ago via a gene duplication event and subsequent functional diversification. To study the recruitment of this ancient gene duplicate to PA biosynthesis, the presence of putative hss gene copies in 11 Convolvulaceae species was analyzed. Additionally, various plant parts from seven of these species were screened for the presence of PAs. Although all of these species possess a putative hss copy, PAs could only be detected in roots of Ipomoea neei (Spreng.) O'Do

SUBMITTER: Prakashrao AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9295680 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature