Phylogeny and subcellular localization analyses reveal distinctions in monocot and eudicot class IV acyl-CoA-binding proteins.

Plant class IV ACBPs diverged with the split of monocots and eudicots. Difference in the subcellular localization supported the functional variation of plant class IV ACBP. Acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) are divided into class I-IV in plants. Class IV ACBPs are kelch motif containing proteins that are specific to plants. The currently known subcellular localizations of plant class IV ACBPs are either in the cytosol (Arabidopsis) or in the peroxisomes (rice). However, it is not clear whether peroxisomal localization of class IV ACBP is a shared character that distinguishes eudicots and monocots. Here, the phylogeny of class IV ACBPs from 73 plant species and subcellular localization of class IV ACBPs from six monocots and eudicots were conducted. Phylogenetic analysis of 112 orthologues revealed that monocot class IV ACBPs were basal to the monophyletic clade formed by eudicots and basal angiosperm. Transient expression of GFP fusions in onion epidermal cells demonstrated that monocot maize (Zea mays), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and eudicot poplar (Populus trichocarpa) all contained at least one peroxisomal localized class IV ACBP, while orthologues from cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and soybean (Glycine max) were all cytosolic. Combining the location of Arabidopsis and rice class IV ACBPs, it indicates that maintaining at least one peroxisomal class IV ACBP could be a shared feature within the tested monocots, while cytosolic class IV ACBPs would be preferred in the tested eudicots. Furthermore, the interaction between OsACBP6 and peroxisomal ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter provided clues for the functional mechanism of OsACBP6.