Genome-wide analysis and evolutionary study of sucrose non-fermenting 1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) gene family members in Arabidopsis and Oryza

• We studied the evolution based on the phylogenetic studies of SnRK2 gene family in different plant lineages.
• We also analyzed the chromosomal distributions of duplicated SnRK2 members in Arabidopsis and Oryza.
• We showed that ancestral SnRK2 gene of land plants gradually evolved by duplication and diversification.
• The SnRK2 gene modified itself through exon–intron loss events to survive under stress conditions.

The over-expression of plant specific SnRK2 gene family members by hyperosmotic stress and some by abscisic acid is well established. In this report, we have analyzed the evolution of SnRK2 gene family in different plant lineages including green algae, moss, lycophyte, dicot and monocot. Our results provide some evidences to indicate that the natural selection pressure had considerable influence on cis-regulatory promoter region and coding region of SnRK2 members in Arabidopsis and Oryza independently through time. Observed degree of sequence/motif conservation amongst SnRK2 homolog in all the analyzed plant lineages strongly supported their inclusion as members of this family. The chromosomal distributions of duplicated SnRK2 members have also been analyzed in Arabidopsis and Oryza. Massively Parallel Signature Sequencing (MPSS) database derived expression data and the presence of abiotic stress related promoter elements within the 1 kb upstream promoter region of these SnRK2 family members further strengthen the observations of previous workers. Additionally, the phylogenetic relationships of SnRK2 have been studied in all plant lineages along with their respective exon–intron structural patterns. Our results indicate that the ancestral SnRK2 gene of land plants gradually evolved by duplication and diversification and modified itself through exon–intron loss events to survive under environmental stress conditions.

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