In silico/computational analysis of mevalonate pyrophosphate decarboxylase gene families in Campanulids

• Published in: Open life sciences 2021-09, Vol.16 (1), p.1022-1036
• Main Authors: Cui, Minghui, Lin, Limei, Guo, Hongyu, Zhang, Duoduo, Zhang, Jie, Cheng, Wenwen, Song, Xin, Xing, Zhaobin, Long, Yuehong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adaptive gene evolution; Apiales; campanulids; gene family; mevalonate pyrophosphate decarboxylase
• ISSN: 2391-5412; 2391-5412
• DOI: 10.1515/biol-2021-0103

Mevalonate pyrophosphate decarboxylase ( ) is a key enzyme in terpenoid biosynthesis. plays an important role in the upstream regulation of secondary plant metabolism. However, studies on the gene are relatively very few despite its importance in plant metabolism. Currently, no systematic analysis has been conducted on the gene in plants under the order Apiales, which comprises important medicinal plants such as and This study sought to explore the structural characteristics of the gene and the effect of adaptive evolution on the gene by comparing and analyzing gene sequences of different campanulids species. For that, phylogenetic and adaptive evolution analyses were carried out using sequences for 11 species. sequence characteristics of each species were then analyzed, and the collinearity analysis of the genes was performed. As a result, a total of 21 proteins were identified in 11 species through BLAST analysis. Phylogenetic analysis, physical and chemical properties prediction, gene family analysis, and gene structure prediction showed that the gene has undergone purifying selection and exhibited highly conserved structure. Analysis of physicochemical properties further showed that the protein was a hydrophilic protein without a transmembrane region. Moreover, collinearity analysis in Apiales showed that gene on chromosome 2 of and chromosome 1 of were collinear. The findings showed that gene is highly conserved. This may be a common characteristic of all essential enzymes in the biosynthesis pathways of medicinal plants. Notably, gene is significantly affected by environmental factors which subsequently modulate its expression. The current study’s findings provide a basis for follow-up studies on gene and key enzymes in other medicinal plants.