Tandem gene duplications drive divergent evolution of caffeine and crocin biosynthetic pathways in plants.

Zhichao XuXiangdong PuRanran GaoOlivia Costantina DemurtasSteven J FleckMichaela RichterChunnian HeAijia JiWei SunJianqiang KongKaizhi HuFengming RenJiejie SongZhe WangTing GaoChao XiongHaoying YuTianyi XinVictor A AlbertGiovanni GiulianoShilin ChenJingyuan Song

Published in: BMC biology (2020)

This study shows duplication-based divergent evolution within the coffee family (Rubiaceae) of two characteristic secondary metabolic pathways, caffeine and crocin biosynthesis, from a common ancestor that possessed neither complete pathway. These findings provide significant insights on the role of tandem duplications in the evolution of plant specialized metabolism.

Keyphrases

palliative care
copy number
cell wall
gene expression
genome wide identification