title: A promiscuous intermediate underlies the evolution of LEAFY DNA binding specificity.
abstract: Transcription factors (TFs) are key players in evolution. Changes affecting their function can yield novel life forms but may also have deleterious effects. Consequently, gene duplication events that release one gene copy from selective pressure are thought to be the common mechanism by which TFs acquire new activities. Here, we show that LEAFY, a major regulator of flower development and cell division in land plants, underwent changes to its DNA binding specificity, even though plant genomes generally contain a single copy of the LEAFY gene. We examined how these changes occurred at the structural level and identify an intermediate LEAFY form in hornworts that appears to adopt all different specificities. This promiscuous intermediate could have smoothed the evolutionary transitions, thereby allowing LEAFY to evolve new binding specificities while remaining a single-copy gene.
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire et Végétale (LPCV), UMR 5168, 38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sayou
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monniaux
authors.forename: Max H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Nanao
authors.forename: Edwige
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moyroud
authors.forename: Samuel F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Brockington
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thévenon
authors.forename: Hicham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chahtane
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Warthmann
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melkonian
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gane Ka-Shu
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weigel
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Parcy
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dumas
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000737:chemistry*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018628:Gene Dosage; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000235:genetics; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D013045:Species Specificity; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D018744:DNA, Plant; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C074747:LFY protein, Arabidopsis; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors