title: TCP transcription factors predate the emergence of land plants.
abstract: TCP proteins are plant-specific transcription factors identified so far only in angiosperms and shown to be involved in specifying plant morphologies. However, the functions of these proteins remain largely unknown. Our study is the first phylogenetic analysis comparing the TCP genes from higher and lower plants, and it dates the emergence of the TCP family to before the split of the Zygnemophyta. EST database analysis and CODEHOP PCR amplification revealed TCP genes in basal land plant genomes and also in their close freshwater algal relatives. Based on an extensive survey of TCP genes, families of TCP proteins were characterized in the Arabidopsis thaliana, poplar, rice, club-moss, and moss genomes. The phylogenetic trees indicate a continuous expansion of the TCP family during the diversification of the Phragmoplastophyta and a similar degree of expansion in several angiosperm lineages. TCP paralogues were identified in all genomes studied, and Ks values indicate that TCP genes expanded during genome duplication events. MEME and SIMPLE analyses detected conserved motifs and low-complexity regions, respectively, outside of the TCP domain, which reinforced the previous description of a "mosaic" structure of TCP proteins.
authors.affiliation: CNRS UMR2594/INRA UMR441, Laboratoire des Interactions Plantes Microorganismes, BP 52627 Chemin de borde rouge, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Navaud
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dabos
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carnus
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tremousaygue
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hervé
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020440:Gene Duplication; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors