Abstract
Glucosinolates are a diverse group of plant metabolites that characterize the order Brassicales. The MAM locus is one of the most significant QTLs for glucosinolate diversity. However, most of what we understand about evolution at the locus is focused on only a few species and not within a phylogenetic context. In this study, we utilize a micro-synteny network and phylogenetic inference to investigate the origin and diversification of the MAM/IPMS gene family. We uncover unique MAM-like genes found at the orthologous locus in the Cleomaceae that shed light on the transition from IPMS to MAM. In the Brassicaceae, we identify six distinct MAM clades across Lineages I, II, and III. We characterize the evolutionary impact and consequences of local duplications, transpositions, whole genome duplications, and gene fusion events, generating several new hypothesizes on the function and diversity of the MAM locus.
Highlights
Glucosinolates (GSL) are a diverse class of amino-acid derived sulfur containing metabolites characteristic of plants of the order Brassicales (Rodman et al, 1998; Borpatragohain et al, 2016; Kliebenstein and Cacho, 2016; Olsen et al, 2016; Chhajed et al, 2019; Blazevic et al, 2020)
For the MAM locus of the glucosinolate (GSL) biosynthesis pathway, the role of tandem duplication events in the evolution of the locus has been well characterized at the population level
Much of what we understand about the MAM locus function has not been understood in the context of phylogeny, except to say that based on gene tree relationships, Lineage II and Lineage II have independently diversified from some initial gene substrate (Benderoth et al, 2009; Zhang et al, 2015)
Summary
Glucosinolates (GSL) are a diverse class of amino-acid derived sulfur containing metabolites characteristic of plants of the order Brassicales (Rodman et al, 1998; Borpatragohain et al, 2016; Kliebenstein and Cacho, 2016; Olsen et al, 2016; Chhajed et al, 2019; Blazevic et al, 2020). When the plant experiences physical damage, such as chewing by herbivores, compartments of the cell rupture and release myrosinase enzymes that hydrolyze the GSLs to create an isothiocyanate anion, damaging the attacker (Rodman et al, 1998). Besides their roles in direct defense, GSLs have been shown to play important roles such as nutrient transport and physiological signaling (del Carmen et al, 2013). Aliphatic GSLs, the largest sub-group of compounds, are especially implicated in this rate of speciation as they are only found in the most species-rich groups such as the family Brassicaceae
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