Evolutionary relationship and structural characterization of the EPF/EPFL gene family.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 23755192.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0065183 and PMC identifier 3670920.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
EPF1-EPF2 and EPFL9/Stomagen act antagonistically in regulating leaf stomatal density. The aim of this study was to elucidate the evolutionary functional divergence of EPF/EPFL family genes. Phylogenetic analyses showed that AtEPFL9/Stomagen-like genes are conserved only in vascular plants and are closely related to AtEPF1/EPF2-like genes. Modeling showed that EPF/EPFL peptides share a common 3D structure that is constituted of a scaffold and loop. Molecular dynamics simulation suggested that AtEPF1/EPF2-like peptides form an additional disulfide bond in their loop regions and show greater flexibility in these regions than AtEPFL9/Stomagen-like peptides. This study uncovered the evolutionary relationship and the conformational divergence of proteins encoded by the EPF/EPFL family genes.
Medical subject headings
- Arabidopsis
- Arabidopsis Proteins
- DNA-Binding Proteins
- Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
- Phylogeny
- Plant Stomata
- Transcription Factors