In plants, an oligogene family encodes NADP-malic enzymes (NADP-me), which are responsible for various functions and exhibit different kinetics and expression patterns. In particular, a chloroplast isoform of NADP-me plays a key role in one of the three biochemical subtypes of C(4) photosynthesis, an adaptation to warm environments that evolved several times independently during angiosperm diversification. By combining genomic and phylogenetic approaches, this study aimed at identifying the molecular mechanisms linked to the recurrent evolutions of C(4)-specific NADP-me in grasses (Poaceae). Genes encoding NADP-me (nadpme) were retrieved from genomes of model grasses and isolated from a large sample of C(3) and C(4) grasses. Genomic and phylogenetic analyses showed that 1) the grass nadpme gene family is composed of four main lineages, one of which is expressed in plastids (nadpme-IV), 2) C(4)-specific NADP-me evolved at least five times independently from nadpme-IV, and 3) some codons driven by positive selection underwent parallel changes during the multiple C(4) origins. The C(4) NADP-me being expressed in chloroplasts probably constrained its recurrent evolutions from the only plastid nadpme lineage and this common starting point limited the number of evolutionary paths toward a C(4) optimized enzyme, resulting in genetic convergence. In light of the history of nadpme genes, an evolutionary scenario of the C(4) phenotype using NADP-me is discussed.
Keywords: evolutionary constraint; gene duplication; genetic adaptation; molecular convergence; multiple origins.