Analysis Tool Web Services from the EMBL-EBI

Variation in life history contributes to reproductive success in different environments. Divergence of annual and perennial angiosperm species is an extreme example that has occurred frequently. Perennials survive for several years and restrict the duration of reproduction by cycling between vegetative growth and flowering, whereas annuals live for 1 year and flower once. We used the tribe Arabideae (Brassicaceae) to study the divergence of seasonal flowering behaviour among annual and perennial species. In perennial Brassicaceae, orthologues of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), a floral inhibitor in Arabidopsis thaliana, are repressed by winter cold and reactivated in spring conferring seasonal flowering patterns, whereas in annuals, they are stably repressed by cold. We isolated FLC orthologues from three annual and two perennial Arabis species and found that the duplicated structure of the A. alpina locus is not required for perenniality. The expression patterns of the genes differed between annuals and perennials, as observed among Arabidopsis species, suggesting a broad relevance of these patterns within the Brassicaceae. Also analysis of plants derived from an interspecies cross of A. alpina and annual A. montbretiana demonstrated that cis‐regulatory changes in FLC orthologues contribute to their different transcriptional patterns. Sequence comparisons of FLC orthologues from annuals and perennials in the tribes Arabideae and Camelineae identified two regulatory regions in the first intron whose sequence variation correlates with divergence of the annual and perennial expression patterns. Thus, we propose that related cis‐acting changes in FLC orthologues occur independently in different tribes of the Brassicaceae during life history evolution.

show abstract

“…2010; McWilliam et al . 2013) were used for different aspects of sequence analysis (details in Supplementary Methods, Supporting information).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergence of annual and perennial species in the Brassicaceae and the contribution of cis‐acting variation at FLC orthologues

Kiefer

Severing

Karl³

et al. 2017

Molecular Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We used only one representative for each bacterium, avoiding the use of multiple strain variants. Multiple sequence alignments of RmlD protein sequences and 16S rRNA sequences were constructed using ClustalW2 (McWilliam et al ., 2013). Neighbor‐Joining trees were built from the RmlD and 16S rRNA alignments using ClustalX (2000 bootstraps were run) (Larkin et al ., 2007).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

GacA is essential for Group A Streptococcus and defines a new class of monomeric dTDP‐4‐dehydrorhamnose reductases (RmlD)

Beek

Breton

Ferenbach

et al. 2015

Molecular Microbiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryThe sugar nucleotide dTDP‐L‐rhamnose is critical for the biosynthesis of the Group A Carbohydrate, the molecular signature and virulence determinant of the human pathogen Group A S treptococcus (GAS). The final step of the four‐step dTDP‐L‐rhamnose biosynthesis pathway is catalyzed by dTDP‐4‐dehydrorhamnose reductases (RmlD). RmlD from the Gram‐negative bacterium S almonella is the only structurally characterized family member and requires metal‐dependent homo‐dimerization for enzymatic activity. Using a biochemical and structural biology approach, we demonstrate that the only RmlD homologue from GAS, previously renamed GacA, functions in a novel monomeric manner. Sequence analysis of 213 Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive RmlD homologues predicts that enzymes from all Gram‐positive species lack a dimerization motif and function as monomers. The enzymatic function of GacA was confirmed through heterologous expression of gac A in a S. mutans rml D knockout, which restored attenuated growth and aberrant cell division. Finally, analysis of a saturated mutant GAS library using Tn‐sequencing and generation of a conditional‐expression mutant identified gac A as an essential gene for GAS. In conclusion, GacA is an essential monomeric enzyme in GAS and representative of monomeric RmlD enzymes in Gram‐positive bacteria and a subset of Gram‐negative bacteria. These results will help future screens for novel inhibitors of dTDP‐L‐rhamnose biosynthesis.

show abstract

“…8, A and B) and exists in solution as a dimer with a predicted size of 93 kDa (Fig. 8C) (61)(62)(63), and the tree was generated using Dendroscope (64).…”

Section: Identification Of Udp-apiose Synthase Homologs In Avascularmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Characterization of UDP-apiose Synthases from Bryophytes and Green Algae Provides Insight into the Appearance of Apiose-containing Glycans during Plant Evolution

Smith

Yang

Levy³

et al. 2016

Journal of Biological Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Apiose is a branched monosaccharide that is present in the cell wall pectic polysaccharides rhamnogalacturonan II and apiogalacturonan and in numerous plant secondary metabolites. These apiose-containing glycans are synthesized using UDPapiose as the donor. UDP-apiose (UDP-Api) together with UDPxylose is formed from UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcA) by UDP-Api synthase (UAS). It was hypothesized that the ability to form Api distinguishes vascular plants from the avascular plants and green algae. UAS from several dicotyledonous plants has been characterized; however, it is not known if avascular plants or green algae produce this enzyme. Here we report the identification and functional characterization of UAS homologs from avascular plants (mosses, liverwort, and hornwort), from streptophyte green algae, and from a monocot (duckweed). The recombinant UAS homologs all form UDP-Api from UDP-glucuronic acid albeit in different amounts. Apiose was detected in aqueous methanolic extracts of these plants. Apiose was detected in duckweed cell walls but not in the walls of the avascular plants and algae. Overexpressing duckweed UAS in the moss Physcomitrella patens led to an increase in the amounts of aqueous methanol-acetonitrile-soluble apiose but did not result in discernible amounts of cell wall-associated apiose. Thus, bryophytes and algae likely lack the glycosyltransferase machinery required to synthesize apiose-containing cell wall glycans. Nevertheless, these plants may have the ability to form apiosylated secondary metabolites. Our data are the first to provide evidence that the ability to form apiose existed prior to the appearance of rhamnogalacturonan II and apiogalacturonan and provide new insights into the evolution of apiose-containing glycans.

show abstract

Analysis Tool Web Services from the EMBL-EBI

Cited by 1,517 publications

References 25 publications

Divergence of annual and perennial species in the Brassicaceae and the contribution of cis‐acting variation at FLC orthologues

Divergence of annual and perennial species in the Brassicaceae and the contribution of cis‐acting variation at FLC orthologues

GacA is essential for Group A Streptococcus and defines a new class of monomeric dTDP‐4‐dehydrorhamnose reductases (RmlD)

Functional Characterization of UDP-apiose Synthases from Bryophytes and Green Algae Provides Insight into the Appearance of Apiose-containing Glycans during Plant Evolution

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About