The evolution of the phenylpropanoid pathway entailed pronounced radiations and divergences of enzyme families
Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2021 papers
Abstract
Land plants constantly respond to fluctuations in their environment. Part of their response is the production of a diverse repertoire of specialized metabolites. One of the foremost sources for metabolites relevant to environmental responses is the phenylpropanoid pathway, which was long thought to be a land-plant-specific adaptation shaped by selective forces in the terrestrial habitat. Recent data have, however, revealed that streptophyte algae, the algal relatives of land plants, have candidates for the genetic toolkit for phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and produce phenylpropanoid-derived metabolites. Using phylogenetic and sequence analyses, we here show that the enzyme families that orchestrate pivotal steps in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis have independently undergone pronounced radiations and divergence in multiple lineages of major groups of land plants; sister to many of these radiated gene families are streptophyte algal candidates for these enzymes. These radiations suggest a high evolutionary versatility in the enzyme families involved in the phenylpropanoid-derived metabolism across embryophytes. We suggest that this versatility likely translates into functional divergence, and may explain the key to one of the defining traits of embryophytes: a rich specialized metabolism.
Related Papers
- → Effects of LED lights on Expression of Genes Involved in Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis and Accumulation of Phenylpropanoids in Wheat Sprout(2019)56 cited
- → An Ancestral Role for CONSTITUTIVE TRIPLE RESPONSE1 Proteins in Both Ethylene and Abscisic Acid Signaling(2015)51 cited
- → Downregulation of polyphenol oxidase in potato tubers redirects phenylpropanoid metabolism enhancing chlorogenate content and late blight resistance(2014)21 cited
- → Detecting adaptive evolution and functional divergence in aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase (ACS) gene family(2012)14 cited
- Part I. Biosynthesis of Arctiin (3) and Phillyrin (5)(1977)