title: Genomewide comparative phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analysis of tubby-like protein family in Arabidopsis, rice, and poplar.
abstract: Tubby-like proteins, which are characterized by a highly conserved tubby domain, play an important role in the maintenance and function of neuronal cells during postdifferentiation and development in mammals. In additional to the tubby domain, most tubby-like proteins in plants also possess an F-box domain. Plants also appear to harbor a large number of TLP genes. To gain insight into how TLP genes evolved in plants, we conducted a comparative phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analysis of the tubby-like protein gene family in Arabidopsis, rice, and poplar. Genomewide screening identified 11 TLP genes in Arabidopsis, 14 in rice, and 11 in poplar. Phylogenetic trees, domain organizations, and intron/exon structures classified this family into three subfamilies and indicated that species-specific expansion contributed to the evolution of this family in plants. We determined that in rice and poplar, the tubby-like protein family had expanded mainly through segmental duplication events. Tissue-specific expression analysis indicated that functional diversification of the duplicated TLP genes was a major feature of long-term evolution. Our results also demonstrated that the tubby and F-box domains had co-evolved during the evolution of proteins containing both domains.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zefeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shiliang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Changjie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Chenwu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000502:physiology; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D032107:Populus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins