Abstract
Receptor-like cytoplasmic protein kinases (RLCKs) are involved in various activities in plant growth and development. We have totally identified 162, 160, and 402 RLCK genes in maize, rice, and Arabidopsis genomes, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses divided 724 RLCK genes into 15 subfamilies and similar structural patterns of kinase activity sites and functional sites were observed within the subfamilies. Furthermore, the structural patterns of intron/exon in the same subfamilies were similar, implicating their close evolutionary relationship. Chromosome distribution indicated that segmental duplication of RLCK genes might be a major mechanism contributing to the expansion of the RLCK superfamilies in maize, rice, and Arabidopsis, respectively. The analysis of the synteny relationship and gene structure indicated that the evolution of most RLCKs in maize were prior to rice and Arabidopsis. Most of the ratio of Ka/Ks is inferior to one, suggesting that RLCK genes have experienced the negative selection in maize, rice and Arabidopsis. Duplication time revealed that the maize was the earliest emergence among these three species. The expression profiles showed that there are some specifically expressed RLCK genes in maize root, leaf, ear, and tassel. These specific expression genes may participate in the developmental regulation of these maize tissues. Our results will be useful in providing new insights into evolution of RLCKs and revealing the regulatory network of maize, rice, and Arabidopsis development.
Highlights
Receptor-like protein kinases (RLKs), widely existing in plants, are kinds of enzymes which recognize the signals by extracellular domains, and transfer the signals to intracellular domains through the transmembrane domains [1]
RLKs can be classified into receptor-like protein kinases (RLP), transmembrane receptor kinases (TMRK), and receptor-like cytoplasmic protein kinases (RLCKs)
Yang et al [8] reported that A novel CRCK1 in Arabidopsis was up-regulated expression under the abiotic stress treatment, suggested that CRCK1 may be involved in various stress-resistance signal transduction pathways
Summary
Receptor-like protein kinases (RLKs), widely existing in plants, are kinds of enzymes which recognize the signals by extracellular domains, and transfer the signals to intracellular domains through the transmembrane domains [1]. RLKs can regulate plant development, growth and fertilization, self-incompatibility [5,6]. A large number of RLKs, including RLCKs, have been found successively in plants. The novel RLCKs NtPK1 and NtPK2 could regulate the signaling pathways of pollen germination and pollen tube growth [9]. OsRLCK102 regulates development by Xa21-mediated immunity in BR signaling pathway [11]. RLCKs may play important roles in stress-resistance, diseases-resistance, and developmental regulation in plants. The distribution of genes on chromosomes, and the evolutionary characteristics of RLCK genes, combining with the genes synteny relations among maize, rice, and Arabidopsis, were illustrated. The RLCK superfamilies are expanded due to segmental duplications among maize, Arabidopsis, and rice chromosomes. RLCK genes expression profiles and sequence analysis highlighted their potential functional diversity
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