title: Adaptive evolution and divergent expression of heat stress transcription factors in grasses.
abstract: Heat stress transcription factors (Hsfs) regulate gene expression in response to heat and many other environmental stresses in plants. Understanding the adaptive evolution of Hsf genes in the grass family will provide potentially useful information for the genetic improvement of modern crops to handle increasing global temperatures.
  
  
  
  In this work, we performed a genome-wide survey of Hsf genes in 5 grass species, including rice, maize, sorghum, Setaria, and Brachypodium, by describing their phylogenetic relationships, adaptive evolution, and expression patterns under abiotic stresses. The Hsf genes in grasses were divided into 24 orthologous gene clusters (OGCs) based on phylogeneitc relationship and synteny, suggesting that 24 Hsf genes were present in the ancestral grass genome. However, 9 duplication and 4 gene-loss events were identified in the tested genomes. A maximum-likelihood analysis revealed the effects of positive selection in the evolution of 11 OGCs and suggested that OGCs with duplicated or lost genes were more readily influenced by positive selection than other OGCs. Further investigation revealed that positive selection acted on only one of the duplicated genes in 8 of 9 paralogous pairs, suggesting that neofunctionalization contributed to the evolution of these duplicated pairs. We also investigated the expression patterns of rice and maize Hsf genes under heat, salt, drought, and cold stresses. The results revealed divergent expression patterns between the duplicated genes.
  
  
  
  This study demonstrates that neofunctionalization by changes in expression pattern and function following gene duplication has been an important factor in the maintenance and divergence of grass Hsf genes.
authors: Zefeng
authors: Z
authors: Yang
authors: Yifan
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Yun
authors: Y
authors: Gao
authors: Yong
authors: Y
authors: Zhou
authors: Enying
authors: E
authors: Zhang
authors: Yunyun
authors: Y
authors: Hu
authors: Yuan
authors: Y
authors: Yuan
authors: Guohua
authors: G
authors: Liang
authors: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology/Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China. qtls@yzu.edu.cn.
authors: Chenwu
authors: C
authors: Xu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D055864:Droughts; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020440:Gene Duplication; D015870:Gene Expression; D000076249:Heat Shock Transcription Factors; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D006109:Poaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D000076249:Heat Shock Transcription Factors; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors