A genome‐wide phylogenetic reconstruction of family 1 UDP‐glycosyltransferases revealed the expansion of the family during the adaptation of plants to life on land

TLDR

Family 1 UDP‑glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are known to glycosylate several classes of plant secondary metabolites, yet knowledge of their organization has been limited to the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana for almost a decade. The study aims to broaden understanding of UGT evolution and organization by reconstructing a phylogeny across multiple plant genomes to investigate adaptation to land. The authors reconstructed a phylogeny of UGTs across 12 fully sequenced plant genomes using maximum‑likelihood analysis, examining gene organization and evolutionary relationships. The analysis identified over 1,500 putative UGTs in 12 plant genomes, revealing that the family expanded from algae to vascular plants, that phylogenetic clustering is largely conserved in higher plants despite lineage‑specific gene loss and gain, and that two novel groups (O and P) absent in Arabidopsis thaliana were discovered.

Abstract

Summary For almost a decade, our knowledge on the organisation of the family 1 UDP‐glycosyltransferases (UGTs) has been limited to the model plant A. thaliana. The availability of other plant genomes represents an opportunity to obtain a broader view of the family in terms of evolution and organisation. Family 1 UGTs are known to glycosylate several classes of plant secondary metabolites. A phylogeny reconstruction study was performed to get an insight into the evolution of this multigene family during the adaptation of plants to life on land. The organisation of the UGTs in the different organisms was also investigated. More than 1500 putative UGTs were identified in 12 fully sequenced and assembled plant genomes based on the highly conserved PSPG motif. Analyses by maximum likelihood (ML) method were performed to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships existing between the sequences. The results of this study clearly show that the UGT family expanded during the transition from algae to vascular plants and that in higher plants the clustering of UGTs into phylogenetic groups appears to be conserved, although gene loss and gene gain events seem to have occurred in certain lineages. Interestingly, two new phylogenetic groups, named O and P, that are not present in A. thaliana were discovered.