Comparative Study of Lectin Domains in Model Species: New Insights into Evolutionary Dynamics

Abstract

Lectins are present throughout the plant kingdom and are reported to be involved in diverse biological processes. In this study, we provide a comparative analysis of the lectin families from model species in a phylogenetic framework. The analysis focuses on the different plant lectin domains identified in five representative core angiosperm genomes (Arabidopsisthaliana, Glycine max, Cucumis sativus, Oryza sativa ssp. japonica and Oryza sativa ssp. indica). The genomes were screened for genes encoding lectin domains using a combination of Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), hidden Markov models, and InterProScan analysis. Additionally, phylogenetic relationships were investigated by constructing maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees. The results demonstrate that the majority of the lectin families are present in each of the species under study. Domain organization analysis showed that most identified proteins are multi-domain proteins, owing to the modular rearrangement of protein domains during evolution. Most of these multi-domain proteins are widespread, while others display a lineage-specific distribution. Furthermore, the phylogenetic analyses reveal that some lectin families evolved to be similar to the phylogeny of the plant species, while others share a closer evolutionary history based on the corresponding protein domain architecture. Our results yield insights into the evolutionary relationships and functional divergence of plant lectins.

Keywords: carbohydrate; evolution; lectin; phylogeny; protein domain.

Figure 1

Midpoint rooted cladogram constructed with all ricin B (a) and GH (b) domain sequences from Arabidopsis (red triangle), soybean (orange star), cucumber (yellow rhomb) and rice (japonica: green circle, indica: blue circle). Numbers indicate the clade numbers and the colored branches correspond to the different domain architectures of the full-length ricin B (a) and GH (b) sequences.

Figure 2

Evolutionary relationships of Nictaba (a) and F-box (b) sequences from Arabidopsis (red triangle), soybean (orange star), cucumber (yellow rhomb) and rice (japonica: green circle, indica: blue circle). The colored branches of the midpoint rooted maximum likelihood tree reflect different domain architectures of the full-length Nictaba (a) and F-box (b) sequences and the numbers specify the clade number.

Figure 3

Midpoint rooted cladogram constructed with all legume lectin domain sequences from Arabidopsis (red triangle), soybean (orange star), cucumber (yellow rhomb) and rice (japonica: green circle, indica: blue circle). The colored branches correspond to the different domain architectures of the full-length legume lectin sequences.

Figure 4

Evolutionary relationships of GNA sequences from Arabidopsis (red triangle), soybean (orange star), cucumber (yellow rhomb) and rice (japonica: green circle, indica: blue circle). The colored branches of the midpoint rooted maximum likelihood tree reflect different domain architectures of the full-length sequences.

Figure 5

Evolutionary relationships of JRL sequences from Arabidopsis (red triangle), soybean (orange star), cucumber (yellow rhomb) and rice (japonica: green circle, indica: blue circle). The colored branches of the midpoint rooted maximum likelihood tree reflect different domain architectures of the full-length JRL sequences and the numbers specify the clade number.

Figure 6

Evolutionary relationships of LysM sequences from Arabidopsis (red triangle), soybean (orange star), cucumber (yellow rhomb) and rice (japonica: green circle, indica: blue circle). The colored branches of the midpoint rooted maximum likelihood tree reflect different domain architectures of the full-length sequences.

Figure 7

Midpoint rooted cladogram constructed with all hevein domain sequences from Arabidopsis (red triangle), soybean (orange star), cucumber (yellow rhomb) and rice (japonica: green circle, indica: blue circle). Numbers indicate the clade numbers and the colored branches correspond to the different domain architectures of the full-length hevein sequences.