Evolution of l‐DOPA 4,5‐dioxygenase activity allows for recurrent specialisation to betalain pigmentation in Caryophyllales

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Sheehan, Hester
Feng, Tao
Walker, Nathanael H.
Lopez, Samuel N.
Pucker, Boas
Guo, Ruijun
Yim, Won C.
Badgami, Roshani
Timoneda, Alfonso
Zhao, Lijun

Issue Date

2019

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Article

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Keywords

HPC-Pronghorn , Genomics , Bioinformatics , Transcriptome , anthocyanins , betalains , Caryophyllales , convergent evolution , gene duplication , DOPA 4,dioxygenase (DODA) , metabolic operon , plant pigments , specialised metabolism

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Abstract

The evolution of L-DOPA 4, 5-dioxygenase activity, encoded by the gene DODA, was a keystep in the origin of betalain biosynthesis in Caryophyllales. We previously proposed that L-DOPA 4,5-dioxygenase activity evolved via a single Caryophyllales-specific neofunctionalisation event within the DODA gene lineage. However, this neofunctionalisation event has notbeen confirmed and the DODA gene lineage exhibits numerous gene duplication events,whose evolutionary significance is unclear.To address this, we functionally characterised 23 distinct DODA proteins for L-DOPA 4,5-dioxygenase activity, from four betalain-pigmented and five anthocyanin-pigmented species,representing key evolutionary transitions across Caryophyllales. By mapping these functionaldata to an updated DODA phylogeny, we then explored the evolution of L-DOPA 4,5-dioxy-genase activity. We find that low L-DOPA 4,5-dioxygenase activity is distributed across the DODA gene lineage. In this context, repeated gene duplication events within the DODA gene lineage give riseto polyphyletic occurrences of elevated L-DOPA 4,5-dioxygenase activity, accompanied by convergent shifts in key functional residues and distinct genomic patterns of micro-synteny. In the context of an updated organismal phylogeny and newly inferred pigment reconstructions, we argue that repeated convergent acquisition of elevated L-DOPA 4,5-dioxygenase activity is consistent with recurrent specialisation to betalain synthesis in Caryophyllales.

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Sheehan, H., Feng, T., Walker?Hale, N., Lopez?Nieves, S., Pucker, B., Guo, R., ... & Tiley, H. (2019). Evolution of l?DOPA 4, 5?dioxygenase activity allows for recurrent specialisation to betalain pigmentation in Caryophyllales. New Phytologist.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

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1469-8137

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