Ancestral polyploidy in seed plants and angiosperms

Whole-genome duplication (WGD), or polyploidy, followed by gene loss and diploidization has long been recognized as an important evolutionary force in animals, fungi and other organisms, especially plants. The success of angiosperms has been attributed, in part, to innovations associated with gene or whole-genome duplications, but evidence for proposed ancient genome duplications pre-dating the divergence of monocots and eudicots remains equivocal in analyses of conserved gene order. Here we use comprehensive phylogenomic analyses of sequenced plant genomes and more than 12.6 million new expressed-sequence-tag sequences from phylogenetically pivotal lineages to elucidate two groups of ancient gene duplications-one in the common ancestor of extant seed plants and the other in the common ancestor of extant angiosperms. Gene duplication events were intensely concentrated around 319 and 192 million years ago, implicating two WGDs in ancestral lineages shortly before the diversification of extant seed plants and extant angiosperms, respectively. Significantly, these ancestral WGDs resulted in the diversification of regulatory genes important to seed and flower development, suggesting that they were involved in major innovations that ultimately contributed to the rise and eventual dominance of seed plants and angiosperms.     

拟南芥基因倍增及基因流失分析

基因倍增指基因组中含有基因的DNA片段复制出一个或更多拷贝的过程,是进化出新物种的主要原因。采用新的数据和方法研究拟南芥基因组的基因倍增过程,通过分析串联基因倍增和大规模基因倍增的存在比例和同义置换率分布,并估计大规模倍增后基因流失的比例,揭示了拟南芥基因组一次非常明显的全基因组倍增,采用科学的方法估计这次倍增发生在约8000万年前。比较该结果与之前的研究,提出了一种解释拟南芥基因倍增过程更合理的模型。     

拟南芥基因倍增及基因流失分析

基因倍增指基因组中含有基因的DNA片段复制出一个或更多拷贝的过程，是进化出新物种的主要原因。采用新的数据和方法研究拟南芥基因组的基因倍增过程，通过分析串联基因倍增和大规模基因倍增的存在比例和同义置换率分布，并估计大规模倍增后基因流失的比例，揭示了拟南芥基因组一次非常明显的全基因组倍增，采用科学的方法估计这次倍增发生在约8000万年前。比较该结果与之前的研究，提出了一种解释拟南芥基因倍增过程更合理的模型。     

Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from multiple genes as a tool for comparative biology

Comparative biology requires a firm phylogenetic foundation to uncover and understand patterns of diversification and evaluate hypotheses of the processes responsible for these patterns. In the angiosperms, studies of diversification in floral form, stamen organization, reproductive biology, photosynthetic pathway, nitrogen-fixing symbioses and life histories have relied on either explicit or implied phylogenetic trees. Furthermore, to understand the evolution of specific genes and gene families, evaluate the extent of conservation of plant genomes and make proper sense of the huge volume of molecular genetic data available for model organisms such as Arabidopsis, Antirrhinum, maize, rice and wheat, a phylogenetic perspective is necessary. Here we report the results of parsimony analyses of DNA sequences of the plastid genes rbcL and atpB and the nuclear 18S rDNA for 560 species of angiosperms and seven non-flowering seed plants and show a well-resolved and well-supported phylogenetic tree for the angiosperms for use in comparative biology.     

原生生物基因重复研究进展

详述了原生生物的大规模和小规模基因重复2种类型，以及重复基因新功能化、亚功能化和假基因化等3种分化途径的研究现状，并简要介绍了重复基因保留偏好性和3种进化模型等方面的相关研究，揭示了基因重复对原生生物进化的重要意义．为了进一步推动原生生物基因重复的研究，建议多开展原生生物非模式生物的研究工作     

簸箕柳SPL基因家族分析

【目的】确定SPL基因家族在不同物种之间的选择性保留和丢失情况,为后续研究被子植物花发育提供参考。【方法】通过在拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)、毛果杨(Populus trichocarpa)、簸箕柳(Salix suchowensis)、葡萄(Vitis vinifera)、番木瓜(Carica papaya)、水稻(Oryza sativa)6种被子植物基因组中查找SPL结构域,寻找6个物种的SPL同源序列。对所找到的SPL序列进行BLASTN比对鉴定同源基因类型。使用自编Perl脚本结合KaKs_Calculator计算SPL同源基因的非同义突变(K_a)以及同义突变(K_s)值,采用共线性分析确定该基因家族的复制和扩张方式。【结果】在6种被子植物基因组中,共发现120个SPL基因。根据种内和种间旁系同源、直系同源基因以及这些同源基因选择压的计算显示:杨柳科SPL同源基因最多,共有旁系同源基因24对,直系同源基因50对; 番木瓜没有旁系同源基因。6个物种中,木本植物比草本植物直系同源基因更多,双子叶植物比单子叶植物直系同源基因更多; 所有旁系同源和直系同源基因的K_a/K_s值均小于1。系统发育树的分析结果与基因同源性分析基本吻合,证明了这两种分析方法具有较高的可靠性。此次研究选取了簸箕柳同一植株上开花和不开花的枝条进行了转录组测序分析,差异表达分析发现了1个SPL基因(willow_GLEAN_10025160)在两种枝条的转录组中表达差异显著(P≤0.01),其在开花枝条中的表达量显著高于未开花枝条,该基因被选为SPL基因家族中参与簸箕柳开花调控的候选基因。【结论】通过对6个物种SPL基因家族的分析,发现6个物种中所有直系同源和旁系同源基因都经历了纯化选择(K_a/K_s<1),基因功能保守。这6个物种除了经历过全基因组复制事件,还发生过大规模的基因丢失或者通过其他方式产生的基因扩张,阐明了它们在进化历史上的复制事件及SPL基因在不同物种中的选择性保留与丢失情况,为进一步研究其在调控簸箕柳开花中的作用提供了有力证据。     

Genome sequence of the Brown Norway rat yields insights into mammalian evolution

The laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is an indispensable tool in experimental medicine and drug development, having made inestimable contributions to human health. We report here the genome sequence of the Brown Norway (BN) rat strain. The sequence represents a high-quality 'draft' covering over 90% of the genome. The BN rat sequence is the third complete mammalian genome to be deciphered, and three-way comparisons with the human and mouse genomes resolve details of mammalian evolution. This first comprehensive analysis includes genes and proteins and their relation to human disease, repeated sequences, comparative genome-wide studies of mammalian orthologous chromosomal regions and rearrangement breakpoints, reconstruction of ancestral karyotypes and the events leading to existing species, rates of variation, and lineage-specific and lineage-independent evolutionary events such as expansion of gene families, orthology relations and protein evolution.     

Gene duplication plays a major role in gene co-option: Studies into the evolution of the motilin/ghrelin family and their receptors

Extant genes can be modified, or ‘tinkered with’, to provide new roles or new characteristics of these genes. At the genetic level, this often involves gene duplication and specialization of the resulting genes into particular functions. We investigate how ligand-receptor partnerships evolve after gene duplication. While significant work has been conducted in this area, the examination of additional models should help us better understand the proposed models and potentially reveal novel evolutionary pattern...     

The tomato genome sequence provides insights into fleshy fruit evolution

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a major crop plant and a model system for fruit development. Solanum is one of the largest angiosperm genera and includes annual and perennial plants from diverse habitats. Here we present a high-quality genome sequence of domesticated tomato, a draft sequence of its closest wild relative, Solanum pimpinellifolium, and compare them to each other and to the potato genome (Solanum tuberosum). The two tomato genomes show only 0.6% nucleotide divergence and signs of recent admixture, but show more than 8% divergence from potato, with nine large and several smaller inversions. In contrast to Arabidopsis, but similar to soybean, tomato and potato small RNAs map predominantly to gene-rich chromosomal regions, including gene promoters. The Solanum lineage has experienced two consecutive genome triplications: one that is ancient and shared with rosids, and a more recent one. These triplications set the stage for the neofunctionalization of genes controlling fruit characteristics, such as colour and fleshiness.     

Abundant gene conversion between arms of palindromes in human and ape Y chromosomes

Eight palindromes comprise one-quarter of the euchromatic DNA of the male-specific region of the human Y chromosome, the MSY. They contain many testis-specific genes and typically exhibit 99.97% intra-palindromic (arm-to-arm) sequence identity. This high degree of identity could be interpreted as evidence that the palindromes arose through duplication events that occurred about 100,000 years ago. Using comparative sequencing in great apes, we demonstrate here that at least six of these MSY palindromes predate the divergence of the human and chimpanzee lineages, which occurred about 5 million years ago. The arms of these palindromes must have subsequently engaged in gene conversion, driving the paired arms to evolve in concert. Indeed, analysis of MSY palindrome sequence variation in existing human populations provides evidence of recurrent arm-to-arm gene conversion in our species. We conclude that during recent evolution, an average of approximately 600 nucleotides per newborn male have undergone Y-Y gene conversion, which has had an important role in the evolution of multi-copy testis gene families in the MSY.     

Mapping of an endogenous retroviral sequence to human chromosome 18

The application of recombinant DNA technologies has allowed the detection of at least three families of moderately repetitive DNA segments in the human genome that are homologous to retroviruses previously isolated from mice and primates. One of these DNA segments has been shown by nucleotide sequence comparisons to be distantly related to both Moloney murine leukaemia virus (MoMuLV) and the endogenous baboon retrovirus and to have the sequence organization characteristic of an integrated retrovirus. Isolation of the homologous locus from chimpanzee DNA indicated that the integration event preceded the evolutionary divergence of chimpanzees and man. Here we have used a panel of rodent x human somatic cell hybrids to assign the chromosomal localization of this segment, called ERV1 (endogenous retrovirus-1), to human chromosome 18 (HSA 18).     

SPL家族基因复制及功能分化分析

【目的】基因复制及随后的功能分化是基因组和物种演化的重要驱动力。植物特有的转录因子家族SPL(SQUAMOSA-promoter binding protein like)广泛参与调控植物生长发育及响应逆境胁迫,为研究重复基因的起源方式和进化命运提供了良好的研究系统。本研究对葡萄(Vitis vinifera)、番木瓜(Carica papaya)、毛果杨(Populus trichocarpa)和拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)4种模式植物的SPL基因家族开展基因复制及功能分化分析,为进一步研究SPL基因功能、预测种属特异性的功能基因提供系统进化角度的参考。【方法】利用SBP特征结构域,鉴定葡萄、番木瓜、毛果杨和拟南芥4种模式植物中SPL基因家族成员,并利用最大似然法构建系统进化树。基于物种内、物种间基因组共线性,分析SPL基因家族发生基因复制的方式及差异保留情况,并计算保留的SPL直系和旁系同源基因的同义、非同义替换率,分析功能分化情况。【结果】在4种模式植物中共鉴定出SPL基因73个,其中42个是miR156的靶基因。系统进化分析显示:73个SPL基因聚类为9个主要分支,miR156靶向SPL基因成簇聚集在6个主要分支;Clade I中SPL基因编码的2个锌指结构基序为C4和C₂HC,而其余8个分支中SPL基因的锌指结构基序由C3H和C₂HC组成。大规模基因组复制事件(片段复制或全基因组复制)是SPL基因家族发生基因重复的主要方式。根据基因组复制事件推算,15个古基因位点理论上应复制出的360个位点中,83.6%的重复位点发生丢失或演化成非SPL基因。本研究鉴定出旁系同源基因17对,直系同源基因27对,且所有旁系和直系同源基因的K_a/K_s(非同义替换率和同义替换率之比)值均小于1。【结论】在不同物种中保留下来的SPL直系同源基因受到较强的纯化选择,在功能上具有保守性;同一物种中保留下来的SPL旁系同源基因在进化过程中维持部分功能冗余,但在组织表达偏好性和蛋白功能上已呈现出不同形式的分化。     

Ferns diversified in the shadow of angiosperms

The rise of angiosperms during the Cretaceous period is often portrayed as coincident with a dramatic drop in the diversity and abundance of many seed-free vascular plant lineages, including ferns. This has led to the widespread belief that ferns, once a principal component of terrestrial ecosystems, succumbed to the ecological predominance of angiosperms and are mostly evolutionary holdovers from the late Palaeozoic/early Mesozoic era. The first appearance of many modern fern genera in the early Tertiary fossil record implies another evolutionary scenario; that is, that the majority of living ferns resulted from a more recent diversification. But a full understanding of trends in fern diversification and evolution using only palaeobotanical evidence is hindered by the poor taxonomic resolution of the fern fossil record in the Cretaceous. Here we report divergence time estimates for ferns and angiosperms based on molecular data, with constraints from a reassessment of the fossil record. We show that polypod ferns (> 80% of living fern species) diversified in the Cretaceous, after angiosperms, suggesting perhaps an ecological opportunistic response to the diversification of angiosperms, as angiosperms came to dominate terrestrial ecosystems.     

哺乳动物Gpx 基因家族进化选择和功能分歧研究 (动物科学)

研究哺乳动物谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶基因家族(Gpx)的亲缘关系和进化选择压力性质。从NCBI等网站获取哺乳动物Gpx基因编码区核酸序列和GPX蛋白氨基酸序列,并用MEGA、Clustal构建亲缘关系树,用SignalP和TargetP分析信号肽和亚细胞定位信息;用K estimator和PAML分析其Gpx基因家族进化先后顺序和选择压力;用Diverge分析GPX蛋白家族功能分歧。结果表明,GPX蛋白家族进化中形成两个亚类,其一包括GPX1和GPX2,其二包括GPX3、GPX5和GPX6;各GPX蛋白成员均有高度保守的GPX蛋白家族基序和高度保守的硒代半胱氨酸或半胱氨酸残基,氨基端信号肽分析显示,GPX1蛋白为胞浆线粒体型,其余家族成员均为胞外分泌型;哺乳动物Gpx1基因进化上受到严格的负选择作用,Gpx基因家族成员保守区也受到负选择作用,但用枝位点模型却检出了正选择作用,GPX蛋白家族内存在轻微的功能分歧。哺乳动物GPX蛋白家族的进化上的负选择作用表明其在哺乳动物清除自由基抗氧化方面的关键作用。     

Maintenance of functional equivalence during paralogous Hox gene evolution

Biological diversity is driven mainly by gene duplication followed by mutation and selection. This divergence in either regulatory or protein-coding sequences can result in quite different biological functions for even closely related genes. This concept is exemplified by the mammalian Hox gene complex, a group of 39 genes which are located on 4 linkage groups, dispersed on 4 chromosomes. The evolution of this complex began with amplification in cis of a primordial Hox gene to produce 13 members, followed by duplications in trans of much of the entire unit. As a consequence, Hox genes that occupy the same relative position along the 5' to 3' chromosomal coordinate (trans-paralogous genes) share more similarity in sequence and expression pattern than do adjacent Hox genes on the same chromosome. Studies in mice indicate that although individual family members may have unique biological roles, they also share overlapping functions with their paralogues. Here we show that the proteins encoded by the paralogous genes, Hoxa3 and Hoxd3, can carry out identical biological functions, and that the different roles attributed to these genes are the result of quantitative modulations in gene expression.     

The origin of MHC class II gene polymorphism within the genus Mus

The I region of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of the mouse (H-2) contains a tightly-linked cluster of highly polymorphic genes (class II MHC genes) which control immune responsiveness. Speculation on the origin of this polymorphism, which is believed to be essential for the function of the class II proteins in immune responses to disease, has given rise to two hypotheses. The first is that hypermutational mechanisms (gene conversion or segmental exchange) promote the rapid generation of diversity in MHC genes. The alternative is that polymorphism has arisen from the steady accumulation of mutations over long evolutionary periods, and multiple specific alleles have survived speciation (trans-species evolution). We have looked for evidence of 'segmental exchange' and/or 'trans-species evolution' in the class II genes of the genus Mus by molecular genetic analysis of I-A beta alleles. The results indicate that greater than 90% (28 out of 31) of the alleles examined can be organized into two evolutionary groups both on the basis of restriction site polymorphisms and by the presence or absence of a short interspersed nucleotide element (SINE). Using this SINE sequence as an evolutionary tag, we demonstrate that I-A beta alleles in these two evolutionary groups diverged at least three million years ago and have survived the speciation events leading to several modern Mus species. Nucleotide sequence comparisons of eight Mus m. domesticus I-A beta alleles representing all three evolutionary groups indicate that most of the divergence in exon sequences is due to the steady accumulation of mutations that are maintained independently in the different alleles. But segmental exchanges between alleles from different evolutionary groups have also played a role in the diversification of beta 1 exons.     

Genome of the marsupial Monodelphis domestica reveals innovation in non-coding sequences

We report a high-quality draft of the genome sequence of the grey, short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica). As the first metatherian ('marsupial') species to be sequenced, the opossum provides a unique perspective on the organization and evolution of mammalian genomes. Distinctive features of the opossum chromosomes provide support for recent theories about genome evolution and function, including a strong influence of biased gene conversion on nucleotide sequence composition, and a relationship between chromosomal characteristics and X chromosome inactivation. Comparison of opossum and eutherian genomes also reveals a sharp difference in evolutionary innovation between protein-coding and non-coding functional elements. True innovation in protein-coding genes seems to be relatively rare, with lineage-specific differences being largely due to diversification and rapid turnover in gene families involved in environmental interactions. In contrast, about 20% of eutherian conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) are recent inventions that postdate the divergence of Eutheria and Metatheria. A substantial proportion of these eutherian-specific CNEs arose from sequence inserted by transposable elements, pointing to transposons as a major creative force in the evolution of mammalian gene regulation.     

ABC model and floral evolution

The paper introduces the classical ABC model of floral development and thereafter ABCD, ABCDE and quartet models, and presents achievements in the studies on floral evolution such as the improved understanding on the relationship of reproductive organs between gnetophytes and angiosperms, new results in perianth evolution and identified homology of floral organs between dicots and monocots. The evo-devo studies on plant taxa at different evolutionary levels are useful to better understanding the homology of floral organs, and to clarifying the mysteries of the origin and subsequent diversification of flowers.     

A genome-wide comparison of recent chimpanzee and human segmental duplications

We present a global comparison of differences in content of segmental duplication between human and chimpanzee, and determine that 33% of human duplications (> 94% sequence identity) are not duplicated in chimpanzee, including some human disease-causing duplications. Combining experimental and computational approaches, we estimate a genomic duplication rate of 4-5 megabases per million years since divergence. These changes have resulted in gene expression differences between the species. In terms of numbers of base pairs affected, we determine that de novo duplication has contributed most significantly to differences between the species, followed by deletion of ancestral duplications. Post-speciation gene conversion accounts for less than 10% of recent segmental duplication. Chimpanzee-specific hyperexpansion (> 100 copies) of particular segments of DNA have resulted in marked quantitative differences and alterations in the genome landscape between chimpanzee and human. Almost all of the most extreme differences relate to changes in chromosome structure, including the emergence of African great ape subterminal heterochromatin. Nevertheless, base per base, large segmental duplication events have had a greater impact (2.7%) in altering the genomic landscape of these two species than single-base-pair substitution (1.2%).