title: Evolution of the regular zone of histone H1 in fabaceae plants.
abstract: An analysis of the histone H1 subtype, H1-1, in eight legumes belonging to four genera of the tribe Vicieae (Pisum, Lathyrus, Lens, and Vicia), revealed an extended region consisting of the tandemly repeated AKPAAK motifs. We named this region the Regular zone (RZ). The AKPAAK motifs are organized into two blocks separated by a short (two or six amino acids) intervening sequence (IS). The distal block contains six AKPAAK motifs, while the number of repeats in the proximal block varies from six in V. faba to seven in the other species. In V. hirsuta, the first two repeated units of the proximal block are octapeptides AKAKPAAK. The apparent rate of synonymous substitutions in the blocks of RZ is much higher than in the rest of the gene. This can be explained by repeat shuffling within each block. In the C-domain of the orthologous H1 subtype from Medicago truncatula (tribe Trifolieae), a region corresponding to the RZ of Vicieae species was found. It also consists of two blocks of AKPAAK motifs (four and three repeats in the proximal and distal blocks, respectively). These blocks are separated by a 20-amino acid IS. The first 20 amino acids of the Medicago RZ are not part of AKPAAK repeats. We hypothesise that the RZ has most probably evolved as a result of an expansion of AKPAAK repeats from two separate sites in the C-domain. This process started tens of millions of years ago and was most likely directed by positive selection.
authors.affiliation: Botany Department, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, QLD, Australia. trusov@botany.uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Trusov
authors.forename: Vera S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Bogdanova
authors.forename: Vladimir A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Berdnikov
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006657:Histones / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D027807:Lathyrus / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018532:Pisum sativum / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D020449:Repetitive Sequences, Amino Acid / Q000235:genetics; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D031306:Vicia / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006657:Histones