Plant evolution: TALES of development.
TALE homeodomain proteins regulate development in many eukaryotes. Now, Lee et al. (2008) report that two TALE homeodomain proteins control zygote development of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas. This implicates TALE gene loss and diversification in the evolution of new diploid body plans that appeared when land plants evolved from algal ancestors over 450 million years ago.
Dolan
Liam
L
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK. liam.dolan@bbsrc.ac.uk
D020418:Algal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016825:Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D063245:Plant Development; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics*
D020418:Algal Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins