Evolution of the Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase Protein Kinase Family in C3 and C4  Flaveria spp.    . Issue 3 (21st May 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aldous, Sophia H.; Weise, Sean E.; Sharkey, Thomas D.; Waldera-Lupa, Daniel M.; Stühler, Kai; Mallmann, Julia; Groth, Georg; Gowik, Udo; Westhoff, Peter; Arsova, Borjana
• Is Part Of: Plant physiology. Volume 165:Issue 3(2014)
• Page Start: 1076
• Page End: 1091
• Publication Date: 2014-05-21
• Subjects: Plant physiology -- Periodicals; Botany -- Periodicals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 571.2
• DOI: 10.1104/pp.114.240283
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0032-0889

Abstract

Abstract : Parallel evolution of two functionally linked gene families has resulted in diel regulatory characteristics in the phosphorylation of PEPC that differs between Flaveria spp. with C3 and C4 photosynthetic types . Abstract: The key enzyme for C4 photosynthesis, Phospho enol pyruvate Carboxylase (PEPC), evolved from nonphotosynthetic PEPC found in C3 ancestors. In all plants, PEPC is phosphorylated by Phospho enol pyruvate Carboxylase Protein Kinase (PPCK). However, differences in the phosphorylation pattern exist among plants with these photosynthetic types, and it is still not clear if they are due to interspecies differences or depend on photosynthetic type. The genus Flaveria contains closely related C3, C3 -C4 intermediate, and C4 species, which are evolutionarily young and thus well suited for comparative analysis. To characterize the evolutionary differences in PPCK between plants with C3 and C4 photosynthesis, transcriptome libraries from nine Flaveria spp. were used, and a two-member PPCK family ( PPCKA and PPCKB ) was identified. Sequence analysis identified a number of C3 - and C4 -specific residues with various occurrences in the intermediates. Quantitative analysis of transcriptome data revealed that PPCKA and PPCKB exhibit inverse diel expression patterns and that C3 and C4 Flaveria spp. differ in the expression levels of these genes. PPCKA has maximal expression levels during the day, whereas PPCKB has maximal expression during the night. Phosphorylation patterns of PEPC varied among C3 and C4 Flaveria spp. too, with PEPC from the C4 species being predominantly phosphorylated throughout the day, while in the C3 species the phosphorylation level was maintained during the entire 24 h. Since C4 Flaveria spp. evolved from C3 ancestors, this work links the evolutionary changes in sequence, PPCK expression, and phosphorylation pattern to an evolutionary phase shift of kinase activity from a C3 to a C4 mode.