Sequence, expression divergence, and complementation of homologous ALCATRAZ loci in Brassica napus

Planta. 2009 Aug;230(3):493-503. doi: 10.1007/s00425-009-0961-z. Epub 2009 Jun 7.

Abstract

The genomic era provides new perspectives in understanding polyploidy evolution, mostly on the genome-wide scale. In this paper, we show the sequence and expression divergence between the homologous ALCATRAZ (ALC) loci in Brassica napus, responsible for silique dehiscence. We cloned two homologous ALC loci, namely BnaC.ALC.a and BnaA.ALC.a in B. napus. Driven by the 35S promoter, both the loci complemented to the alc mutation of Arabidopsis thaliana, yet only the expression of BnaC.ALC.a was detectable in the siliques of B. napus. Sequence alignment indicated that BnaC.ALC.a and BolC.ALC.a, or BnaA.ALC.a and BraA.ALC.a, possess a high level of similarity. The understanding of the sequence and expression divergence among homologous loci of a gene is of due importance for an effective gene manipulation and TILLING (or ECOTILLING) analysis for the allelic DNA variation at a given locus.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Base Sequence
  • Brassica napus / genetics*
  • Genes, Plant
  • Genetic Complementation Test*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Plant Proteins / genetics*
  • Polyploidy
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid

Substances

  • Plant Proteins