Gain, loss, and fusion: ancient and eventful origin of DIVARICATA and DRIF genes.
Sengupta A, Howarth D
Gene Evolution
PubMedUnderstanding the genetic switches that control flower shape and plant growth could help breeders develop crops and garden plants with more desirable traits, from petal patterns to stress resilience.
Plants have master control genes that act like light switches, turning other genes on or off to shape how flowers look and how the plant grows. Scientists discovered that one important group of these switches—found in flowering plants and many other living things—was created hundreds of millions of years ago when two simpler genes fused together, then got trimmed down over time into the versions we see today. This ancient origin means the same basic genetic machinery quietly runs in everything from the flowers in your garden to distant relatives like algae.
Key Findings
The DIVARICATA (DIV) gene arose from the fusion of two ancestral MYB genes, originally producing a three-domain protein (MYBA-MYB1-MYB2) before losing the MYBA domain in green plants.
Further truncation of the MYB1 domain gave rise to a competing gene family (LFG), which retains only the MYB2 domain, illustrating how gene shortening repeatedly created new regulatory players.
Components of the DIV-based regulatory network are found across a broad diversity of eukaryotes, suggesting this on/off switch system predates the evolution of land plants and may be ancestral to a large group of complex organisms.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers traced the evolutionary origins of a family of plant gene regulators called DIVARICATA (DIV), revealing they arose from an ancient gene fusion event and were later reshaped through gene domain losses—ultimately forming a molecular on/off switch that controls how plants grow and develop.
Abstract Preview
Comprising one of the largest plant gene families, MYB genes are major regulators of growth and development across plant tissues. Their evolutionary history is complex with recurrent gain and loss ...
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