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PMID: 25881027 Published · epublish English Journal Article

The plant Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) existed in the ancestor of seed plants and has a complex duplication history.

BMC evolutionary biology ·Vol. 15 ·2015-03-13 ·Pages 44

Berke L, Snel B

Abstract

Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) is an essential protein complex for plant development. It catalyzes ubiquitination of histone H2A that is an important part of the transcription repression machinery. Absence of PRC1 subunits in Arabidopsis thaliana plants causes severe developmental defects. Many aspects of the plant PRC1 are elusive, including its origin and phylogenetic distribution. We established the evolutionary history of the plant PRC1 subunits (LHP1, Ring1a-b, Bmi1a-c, EMF1, and VRN1), enabled by sensitive phylogenetic methods and newly sequenced plant genomes from previously unsampled taxonomic groups. We showed that all PRC1 core subunits exist in gymnosperms, earlier than previously thought, and that VRN1 is a recent addition, found exclusively in eudicots. The retention of individual subunits in chlorophytes, mosses, lycophytes and monilophytes indicates that they can moonlight as part of other complexes or processes. Moreover, we showed that most PRC1 subunits underwent a complex, duplication-rich history that differs significantly between Brassicaceae and other eudicots. PRC1 existed in the last common ancestor of seed plants where it likely played an important regulatory role, aiding their radiation. The presence of LHP1, Ring1 and Bmi1 in mosses, lycophytes and monilophytes also suggests the presence of a primitive yet functional PRC1.

MeSH Terms
Animals Evolution, Molecular Gene Duplication Phylogeny Plants/classification,genetics Polycomb-Group Proteins/chemistry,genetics,metabolism Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases/genetics Ubiquitination
Chemicals
Polycomb-Group Proteins Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Berke Lidija
Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, Netherlands. l.berke@uu.nl.
Snel Berend
Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, Netherlands. b.snel@uu.nl.
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Article Info
Journal
BMC evolutionary biology
Abbr.
BMC Evol Biol
ISSN
1471-2148
DOI
10.1186/s12862-015-0319-z
Email
l.berke@uu.nl
b.snel@uu.nl
Published
2015-03-13
Epub
2015-00-13
Pages
44
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
100966975
PMCID
PMC4397884
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1186/s12862-015-0319-z PMC Full Text View journal details
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