title: Ascorbate peroxidase-related (APx-R) is a new heme-containing protein functionally associated with ascorbate peroxidase but evolutionarily divergent.
abstract: • Peroxidases are involved in several important processes, such as development and responses to environmental cues. In higher plants, most peroxidases are encoded by large, multigenic families that mainly originated from gene and chromosomal duplications. • Using phylogenetic, genomic and functional analyses, we have identified and characterized a new class of putative heme peroxidases, called ascorbate peroxidase-related (APx-R), which arose specifically in the lineage of plants. • The APx-R protein is structurally related to the ascorbate peroxidases, although the active site contains many conserved substitutions. Unlike all other plant peroxidases, which are encoded by gene families, APx-R is encoded by a single-copy gene in virtually all the species analyzed. APx-R proteins are targeted to the chloroplast and can physically interact with chloroplastic APx proteins. APx-R-knockdown rice (Oryza sativa) plants presented delayed development and a disturbed steady state of the antioxidant system compared with wild type. Moreover, the accumulation of APx-R transcripts was modulated by drought, UV irradiation, cold, and aluminum exposure in rice, suggesting the involvement of APx-R in the environmental stress response. • Our results reveal the existence of a new class of heme peroxidase which seems to play a role in the antioxidant system in plants, probably by modulating the activity of chloroplastic APx proteins.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lazzarotto
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Felipe Karam
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.|Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Silvia Barcelos
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.affiliation: Université de Toulouse, UPS, UMR 5546, Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, Castanet-Tolosan, France.|CNRS, UMR 5546, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dunand
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Claudia Lemelle
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brasil.
authors.forename: Adilton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Vasconcelos Fontenele
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brasil.
authors.forename: Joaquim Albenisio Gomes
authors.initials: JAG
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verli
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.|Departamento de Biofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Rogério
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Margis
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Marcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Margis-Pinheiro
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D060387:Ascorbate Peroxidases; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000201:enzymology; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019281:Dimerization; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012275:Oryza / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D010544:Peroxidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D032107:Populus / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D010544:Peroxidases; D060387:Ascorbate Peroxidases