| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2817194 | Gene | 2013 | 7 Pages |
•We identify 240 cation/proton antiporters (CPAs) in eight diverse plant species.•Gene duplications contribute to the expansion of CHX family in flowering plants.•Ka/Ks ratio shows KEA family has been under strong purifying selective pressure.•Most of the 151 over-represented motifs among CPAs are family/group specific.•Co-expression analysis suggests KEA family may be involved in photosynthesis.
The cation/proton antiporter superfamily is associated with the transport of monovalent cations across membranes. This superfamily was annotated in the Arabidopsis genome and some members were functionally characterized. In the present study, a systematic analysis of the cation/proton antiporter genes in diverse plant species was reported. We identified 240 cation/proton antiporters in alga, moss, and angiosperm. A phylogenetic tree was constructed showing these 240 members are separated into three families, i.e., Na+/H+ exchangers, K+ efflux antiporters, and cation/H+ exchangers. Our analysis revealed that tandem and/or segmental duplications contribute to the expansion of cation/H+ exchangers in the examined angiosperm species. Sliding window analysis of the nonsynonymous/synonymous substitution ratios showed some differences in the evolutionary fate of cation/proton antiporter paralogs. Furthermore, we identified over-represented motifs among these 240 proteins and found most motifs are family specific, demonstrating diverse evolution of the cation/proton antiporters among three families. In addition, we investigated the co-expressed genes of the cation/proton antiporters in Arabidopsis thaliana. The results showed some biological processes are enriched in the co-expressed genes, suggesting the cation/proton antiporters may be involved in these biological processes. Taken together, this study furthers our knowledge on cation/proton antiporters in plants.
