title: Phylogenetic relationships and selective pressure on gene families related to iron homeostasis in land plants.
abstract: Iron is involved in many metabolic processes, such as respiration and photosynthesis, and therefore an essential element for plant development. Comparative analysis of gene copies between crops and lower plant groups can shed light on the evolution of genes important to iron homeostasis. A phylogenetic analysis of five metal homeostasis gene families (NAS, NRAMP, YSL, FRO, and IRT) selected in monocots, dicots, gymnosperms, and bryophytes was performed. The homologous genes were found using known iron homeostasis gene sequences of Oryza sativa, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Physcomitrella patens as queries. The phylogeny was constructed using bioinfomatics tools. A total of 243 gene sequences for 30 plant species were found. The evolutionary fingerprint analysis suggested a purifying selective pressure of iron homeostasis genes for most of the plant gene homologues. The NAS and YSL genes appear to accumulate more negative selection sites, suggesting a strong selective pressure on these two gene families. The divergence time analysis indicates IRT as the most ancient gene family and FRO as the most recent. NRAMP and YSL genes appear to share a close relationship in the evolution of iron homeostasis gene families.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Federal University of Pelotas, 96010-900 Pelotas, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Filipe de Carvalho
authors.initials: Fde C
authors.lastname: Victoria
authors.forename: Clauber Mateus Priebe
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bervald
authors.forename: Luciano Carlos
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: da Maia
authors.forename: Rogerio Oliveira
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: de Sousa
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Panaud
authors.forename: Antônio Costa
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
mesh_terms: D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D019669:Embryophyta / Q000235:genetics*; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D007501:Iron