Molecular Properties and Functional Divergence of the Dehydroascorbate Reductase Gene Family in Lower and Higher Plants

• Published in: PloS one 2015-12, Vol.10 (12), p.e0145038-e0145038
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yuan-Jie, Wang, Wei, Yang, Hai-Ling, Li, Yue, Kang, Xiang-Yang, Wang, Xiao-Ru, Yang, Zhi-Ling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Arabidopsis thaliana; Ascorbic acid; Brachypodium distachyon; Bryophytes; Cell cycle; Cell division; Chloroplasts - enzymology; Cytoplasm; Cytosol - enzymology; Divergence; Engineering; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genetic aspects; Genomes; Genomics; Homeostasis; Molecular properties; Multigene Family; Oxidation; Oxidoreductases - genetics; Oxidoreductases - metabolism; Peptides; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Physcomitrella patens; Picea - cytology; Picea - enzymology; Picea - genetics; Picea abies; Pinus taeda; Plant cells; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Populus tomentosa; Proteins; Redox properties; Reductase; Selaginella moellendorffii; Selaginellaceae - cytology; Selaginellaceae - enzymology; Selaginellaceae - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Studies; Tobacco; Trees; Vacuoles - enzymology; Zea mays; Zea mays - cytology; Zea mays - enzymology; Zea mays - genetics
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145038

Dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), which reduces oxidized ascorbate, is important for maintaining an appropriate ascorbate redox state in plant cells. To date, genome-wide molecular characterization of DHARs has only been conducted in bryophytes (Physcomitrella patens) and eudicots (e.g. Arabidopsis thaliana). In this study, to gain a general understanding of the molecular properties and functional divergence of the DHARs in land plants, we further conducted a comprehensive analysis of DHARs from the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii, gymnosperm Picea abies and monocot Zea mays. DHARs were present as a small gene family in all of the land plants we examined, with gene numbers ranging from two to four. All the plants contained cytosolic and chloroplastic DHARs, indicating dehydroascorbate (DHA) can be directly reduced in the cytoplasm and chloroplast by DHARs in all the plants. A novel vacuolar DHAR was found in Z. mays, indicating DHA may also be reduced in the vacuole by DHARs in Z. mays. The DHARs within each species showed extensive functional divergence in their gene structures, subcellular localizations, and enzymatic characteristics. This study provides new insights into the molecular characteristics and functional divergence of DHARs in land plants.