Seminars

Molecular Mechanisms in Plant Natural

Title Molecular Mechanisms in Plant Natural
Lecturer Dr. Juergen Ehlting (University of Victoria)
Language English
Date&Time 02/14/2012 (Tue) 15:20~16:00
Venue 大セミナー室
Detail
Metabolic plasticity, which largely relies on the creation of new genes, is an essential feature of plant adaptation and speciation and has led to the evolution of large gene families. A typical example is provided by the diversification of the cytochrome P450 enzymes in plants. We describe here a retroposition, neofunctionalization, and duplication sequence that, via selective and local amino acid replacement, led to the evolution of a novel phenolic pathway in Brassicaceae. This pathway involves a cascade of six successive hydroxylations by two partially redundant cytochromes P450, leading to the formation of N1,N5-di(hydroxyferuloyl)-N10-sinapoylspermidine, a major pollen constituent and so-far-overlooked player in phenylpropanoid metabolism. This example shows how positive Darwinian selection can favor structured clusters of nonsynonymous substitutions that are needed for the transition of enzymes to new functions.

Reference:
Matsuno M. et al. (2009) Evolution of a novel phenolic pathway for pollen development. Science 325: 1688-1692

Contact 植物代謝調節学
出村 拓 (demura@bs.naist.jp)

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