Isolation of homeodomain-leucine zipper genes from the moss Physcomitrella patens and the evolution of homeodomain-leucine zipper genes in land plants

Homeobox genes encode transcription factors involved in many aspects of developmental processes. The homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) genes, which are characterized by the presence of both a homeodomain and a leucine zipper motif, form a clade within the homeobox superfamily and were previously r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular biology and evolution 2001-04, Vol.18 (4), p.491-502
Main Authors: Sakakibara, K, Nishiyama, T, Kato, M, Hasebe, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Bryopsida - genetics
Cloning, Molecular
DNA, Complementary - analysis
Evolution, Molecular
Genes, Homeobox
Homeodomain Proteins - genetics
Leucine Zippers - genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
Multigene Family
Phylogeny
Physcomitrella patens
Plant Proteins - genetics
Plants - genetics
Pphb gene
Sequence Alignment
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Summary:Homeobox genes encode transcription factors involved in many aspects of developmental processes. The homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) genes, which are characterized by the presence of both a homeodomain and a leucine zipper motif, form a clade within the homeobox superfamily and were previously reported only from vascular plants. Here we report the isolation of 10 HD-Zip genes (named PPHB:1-PPHB:10) from the moss Physcomitrella patens. Based on a phylogenetic analysis of the 10 PPHB: genes and previously reported vascular plant HD-Zip genes, all of the PPHB: genes except Pphb3 belong to three of the four HD-Zip subfamilies (HD-Zip I, II, and III), indicating that these subfamilies originated before the divergence of the vascular plant and moss lineages. Pphb3 is sister to the HD-Zip II subfamily and has some distinctive characteristics, including the difference of the a(1) and d(1) sites of its leucine zipper motif, which are well conserved in each HD-Zip subfamily. Comparison of the genetic divergence of representative HD-Zip I and II genes showed that the evolutionary rate of HD-Zip I genes was faster than that of HD-Zip II genes.
ISSN:0737-4038
1537-1719
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a003828