Deep evaluation of the evolutionary history of the Heat Shock Factor (HSF) gene family and its expansion pattern in seed plants

PeerJ

article

Yiying Liao¹  Zhiming Liu²  Andrew W. Gichira²  Min Yang¹  Ruth Wambui Mbichi²  Linping Meng¹  Tao Wan² 

[1] Key Laboratory of Southern Subtropical Plant Diversity, Fairy Lake Botanical Garden, Shenzhen & Chinese Academy of Science;Core Botanical Gardens/Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences;Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences

关键词: Heat shock factor;    Gene family evolution;    Diversification;    Lineage-specific expansions;    Whole genome duplication;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13603

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Heat shock factor (HSF) genes are essential in some of the basic developmental pathways in plants. Despite extensive studies on the structure, functional diversification, and evolution of HSF genes, their divergence history and gene duplication pattern remain unknown. To further illustrate the probable divergence patterns in these subfamilies, we analyzed the evolutionary history of HSF genes using phylogenetic reconstruction and genomic syntenic analyses, taking advantage of the increased sampling of genomic data from pteridophytes, gymnosperms and basal angiosperms. We identified a novel clade that includes HSFA2, HSFA6, HSFA7, and HSFA9 with a complex relationship, which is very likely due to orthologous or paralogous genes retained after frequent gene duplication events. We hypothesized that HSFA9 derives from HSFA2 through gene duplication in eudicots at the ancestral state, and then expanded in a lineage-specific way. Our findings indicate that HSFB3 and HSFB5 emerged before the divergence of ancestral angiosperms, but were lost in the most recent common ancestors of monocots. We also presumed that HSFC2 derives from HSFC1 in ancestral monocots. This work proposes that during the radiation of flowering plants, an era during which there was a differentiation of angiosperms, the size of the HSF gene family was also being adjusted with considerable sub- or neo-functionalization. The independent evolution of HSFs in eudicots and monocots, including lineage-specific gene duplication, gave rise to a new gene in ancestral eudicots and monocots, and lineage-specific gene loss in ancestral monocots. Our analyses provide essential insights for studying the evolutionary history of this multigene family.

【 授权许可】

CC BY