Abstract
BackgroundCysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) are gaining recognition as regulators of cell–cell communication in plants.ResultsWe identified 9556 CRPs in 12 plant species and analysed their evolutionary patterns. In most angiosperm plants, whole genome duplication and segmental duplication are the major factors driving the expansion of CRP family member genes, especially signal peptides. About 30% of the CRP genes were found clustered on the chromosomes, except in maize (Zea mays). Considerable collinearities between CRP genes between or within species reveal several syntenic regions on the chromosomes. Different subfamilies display diverse evolutionary rates, suggesting that these subfamilies are subjected to different selective pressures. CRPs in different duplication models also show contrasting evolutionary rates, although the underlying mechanism is unclear because of the complexity of gene evolution. The 1281 positively selected genes identified are probably generated within a certain period of time. While most of these belonged to maize and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), new CRP functions would also be expected. Up-regulation of 10 CRPs was observed in self-pollinated pear pistils and pollen tubes under self S-RNase treatments in vitro. The expression divergence between different CRP gene duplication types suggests that different duplication mechanisms affected the fate of the duplicated CRPs.ConclusionOur analyses of the evolution of the CRP gene family provides a unique view of the evolution of this large gene family.
Highlights
Cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) are gaining recognition as regulators of cell–cell communication in plants
Collection and identification of CRP in 12 species To reveal the universal plant CRP characteristics, our analysis focused on CRPs in 12 species: pear, mei (Prunus mume), strawberry (Fragaria vesca), cabbage (Brassica rapa), black cottonwood (Populous trichocarpa), soybean (Glycine max), peach (Prunus persica), grape (Vitis vinfera), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), maize, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and green alga (Volvox carteri)
We found that CRP genes retained after a whole genome duplication (WGD) and segmental duplication had a faster evolutionary rate than those retained from a single gene duplication (Fig. 5)
Summary
Cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) are gaining recognition as regulators of cell–cell communication in plants. Cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) are a group of proteins that mediate many aspects of plant physiology and development. These proteins have emerged as plant peptide ligands that trigger membrane receptors to induce plant growth, plant defence, plant–bacteria symbiosis and plant reproduction [1, 2]. Rapid alkalinisation factor (RALF) has been identified in many crops as a signalling peptide that causes alkalinisation of the culture medium [4,5,6]. A further study revealed that RALF induces rapid activation of MAP kinases [7].
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