A Comprehensive Survey on the Terpene Synthase Gene Family Provides New Insight into Its Evolutionary Patterns

Abstract

Terpenes are organic compounds and play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in mediating interactions of plants with the environment. Terpene synthases (TPSs) are the key enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of terpenes. Although some species were employed for the genome-wide identification and characterization of the TPS family, limited information is available regarding the evolution, expansion, and retention mechanisms occurring in this gene family. We performed a genome-wide identification of the TPS family members in 50 sequenced genomes. Additionally, we also characterized the TPS family from aromatic spearmint and basil plants using RNA-Seq data. No TPSs were identified in algae genomes but the remaining plant species encoded various numbers of the family members ranging from 2 to 79 full-length TPSs. Some species showed lineage-specific expansion of certain subfamilies, which might have contributed toward species or ecotype divergence or environmental adaptation. A large-scale family expansion was observed mainly in dicot and monocot plants, which was accompanied by frequent domain loss. Both tandem and segmental duplication significantly contributed toward family expansion and expression divergence and played important roles in the survival of these expanded genes. Our data provide new insight into the TPS family expansion and evolution and suggest that TPSs might have originated from isoprenyl diphosphate synthase genes.

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Profile of TPS Gene Family in Dendrobium officinale and the Role of DoTPS10 in Linalool Biosynthesis

“…Similar to the TPS-a group, the TPS-c group was further divided into dicot and monocot subclades. Consistent with a previous report, the TPS-d subfamily was specific to gymnosperms, and the TPS-h subfamily was only observed in S. moellendorffii [1,11,12,17], inferring that they might play a particular role in these species.…”

“…Another angiosperm-specific TPS-g encodes monoterpene synthase without the R(R)X 8 W motif. TPS-h is only observed in Selaginella moellendorffii [1,[9][10][11]. In addition, TPS harbors conserved structural features such as DDxxD, NSE/DTE, and R(R)X 8 W motifs [1].…”

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of the bHLH Transcription Factor Family in Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

“…However, motif 9 and 10 were only present in subfamilies III (a + c) and VII, respectively. Variation in conserved motifs permits the classification of proteins into subfamilies and reflects each subfamily's specific functions (Jiang et al, 2019). Gene structure can also provide information for the study of gene family evolution (Guo et al, 2013).…”

Functional Characterization of a Dendrobium officinale Geraniol Synthase DoGES1 Involved in Floral Scent Formation

“…Multiple sequence alignment demonstrated that three DoGES proteins had highly conserved aspartate-rich motifs (DDxxD) and NSE/DTE motifs at the C -terminal, and an RRX 8 W domain at the N -terminal ( Figure 2 ), suggesting that DoGES1-3 were all TPSs. Among them, DDxxD and NSE/DTE were essential for the cofactor Mg 2+ or Mn 2+ to catalyze the synthesis of monoterpenes [ 18 , 19 ], and the RRX 8 W domain was also involved in the cyclization of monoterpene synthase [ 20 ].…”