Functional analysis of COP1 and SPA orthologs from Physcomitrella and rice during photomorphogenesis of transgenic Arabidopsis reveals distinct evolutionary conservation

Abstract

Our results show that COP1 protein sequences from Physcomitrella, rice and Arabidopsis have been functionally conserved during evolution, while the SPA proteins showed considerable functional divergence. This may - at least in part - reflect the fact that COP1 is a single copy gene in seed plants, while SPA proteins are encoded by a small gene family of two to four members with possibly sub- or neofunctionalized tasks.