title: Molecular evolution of the OrcPI locus in natural populations of Mediterranean orchids.
abstract: The evolutionary analysis of OrcPI, the orchid homologue to the PISTILLATA/GLOBOSA gene, was conducted on some Mediterranean orchid species, measuring mean pairwise Ka/Ks ratios and nucleotide variability. Evidence for positive selection was tested using a maximum likelihood approach implemented in PAML, and neutrality tests were conducted to assess deviation from neutral evolution. Data were also examined partitioning the coding region into four regions, corresponding to different functional domains of the protein. The results show that OrcPI is subjected to different evolutionary forces: diffuse purifying selection, localized positive selection or selective sweep, and different partitions of selective constraints.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Section of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Naples Federico II, via Mezzocannone 8, 80134 Napoli, Italy. serena.aceto@unina.it
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aceto
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montieri
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sica
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gaudio
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000032:analysis; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D029595:Orchidaceae / Q000235:genetics*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; C102172:GLOBOSA protein, plant; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins