Origin and Fates of TERT Gene Copies in Polyploid Plants
1
Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, CZ-61265 Brno, Czech Republic
2
Laboratory of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, NCBR, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, CZ-61137 Brno, Czech Republic
3
Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics, CEITEC, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-62500 Brno, Czech Republic
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(4), 1783; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22041783
Received: 21 December 2020
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Revised: 3 February 2021
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Accepted: 5 February 2021
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Published: 11 February 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Molecular Plant Sciences)
The gene coding for the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is essential for the maintenance of telomeres. Previously we described the presence of three TERT paralogs in the allotetraploid plant Nicotiana tabacum, while a single TERT copy was identified in the paleopolyploid model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we examine the presence, origin and functional status of TERT variants in allotetraploid Nicotiana species of diverse evolutionary ages and their parental genome donors, as well as in other diploid and polyploid plant species. A combination of experimental and in silico bottom-up analyses of TERT gene copies in Nicotiana polyploids revealed various patterns of retention or loss of parental TERT variants and divergence in their functions. RT–qPCR results confirmed the expression of all the identified TERT variants. In representative plant and green algal genomes, our synteny analyses show that their TERT genes were located in a conserved locus that became advantageous after the divergence of eudicots, and the gene was later translocated in several plant groups. In various diploid and polyploid species, translocation of TERT became fixed in target loci that show ancient synapomorphy.
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Keywords:
polyploidy; Nicotiana; telomerase; gene evolution; synteny
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MDPI and ACS Style
Fajkus, P.; Peška, V.; Fajkus, J.; Sýkorová, E. Origin and Fates of TERT Gene Copies in Polyploid Plants. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 1783. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22041783
AMA Style
Fajkus P, Peška V, Fajkus J, Sýkorová E. Origin and Fates of TERT Gene Copies in Polyploid Plants. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021; 22(4):1783. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22041783
Chicago/Turabian StyleFajkus, Petr, Vratislav Peška, Jiří Fajkus, and Eva Sýkorová. 2021. "Origin and Fates of TERT Gene Copies in Polyploid Plants" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, no. 4: 1783. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22041783
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