Abstract
BackgroundTaxus spp. produces the anticancer drug, taxol, and hence is planted as an industrial crop in China. APETALA2/ethylene response element binding proteins (AP2/EREBPs) are the key regulators of plant development, growth, and stress responses. Several homologues control taxol biosynthesis. Identifying the AP2/EREBP proteins from Taxus is important to increase breeding and production and clarify their evolutionary processes.ResultsAmong the 90 genes from multi Taxus chinensis transcriptome datasets, 81 encoded full-length AP2-containing proteins. A domain structure highly similar to that of angiosperm AP2/EREBPs was found in 2 AP2, 2 ANT, 1 RAV, 28 dehydration-responsive element-binding proteins, and 47 ethylene-responsive factors contained, indicating that they have extremely conservative evolution processes. A new subgroup protein, TcA3Bz1, contains three conserved AP2 domains and, a new domain structure of AP2/EREBPs that is different from that of known proteins. The new subtype AP2 proteins were also present in several gymnosperms (Gingko biloba) and bryophytes (Marchantia polymorpha). However, no homologue was found in Selaginella moellendorffii, indicating unknown evolutionary processes accompanying this plant’s evolution. Moreover, the structures of the new subgroup AP2/EREBPs have different conserved domains, such as B3, zf-C3Hc3H, and agent domains, indicating their divergent evolution in bryophytes and gymnosperms. Interestingly, three repeats of AP2 domains have separately evolved from mosses to gymnosperms for most of the new proteins, but the AP2 domain of Gb_11937 has been replicated.ConclusionThe new subtype AP2/EREBPs have different origins and would enrich our knowledge of the molecular structure, origin, and evolutionary processes of AP2/EREBP transcription factors in plants.
Highlights
Taxus spp. produces the anticancer drug, taxol, and is planted as an industrial crop in China
Identification of AP2/Ethylene-responsive element binding protein (EREBP) proteins in T. chinensis The transcriptome data in the present study originated from the database of our previous report that was expanded by adding several new datasets such as miR5298OE and WRKY47OE [2, 16, 17, 19]
Ninety AP2/EREBP genes were identified in T. chinensis transcriptome datasets many unigenes were annotated as AP2/EREBP transcription factors according to the Blast results, only the genes that could encode a full-length AP2 domain were considered
Summary
Taxus spp. produces the anticancer drug, taxol, and is planted as an industrial crop in China. Taxus spp. is an ancient gymnosperm that could produce a secondary metabolite, taxol (generic Paclitaxel), the most used clinical anticancer drugs [1,2,3]. Regulating secondary metabolite biosynthesis is a promising way to guide breeding, genic manipulation, and planting of industrial crops [4]. Our previous work identified two AP2/EREBPs proteins, TcERF12 and TcERF15, that could positively and negatively regulate the expression of TASY gene, which encodes the first committed step enzyme in the taxol biosynthesis pathway [5]. Identifying AP2/EREBP transcription factors in Taxus spp. would facilitate the screening of candidate regulators for taxol biosynthesis. AP2/EREBP superfamily proteins are divided into six subgroups, namely, APETELA2 (AP2), AINTEGUMENTA
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