Abstract KNOTTED-like homeodomain (KNOX) genes are transcriptional regulators that play an important role in morphogenesis. In the present study, a comparative analysis was performed to investigate the molecular evolution of the characteristics of the KNOX gene family in 10 different plant species. We identified 129 KNOX gene family members, which were categorized into two subfamilies based on multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree reconstruction. Several segmental duplication pairs were found, indicating that different species share a common expansion model. Functional divergence analysis identified the 15 and 52 amino acid sites with significant changes in evolutionary rates and amino acid physicochemical properties as functional divergence sites. Additional selection analysis showed that 14 amino acid sites underwent positive selection during evolution, and two groups of co-evolutionary amino acid sites were identified by Coevolution Analysis using Protein Sequences software. These sites could play critical roles in the molecular evolution of the KNOX gene family in these species. In addition, the expression profiles of KNOX duplicated genes demonstrated functional divergence. Taken together, these results provide novel insights into the structural and functional evolution of the KNOX gene family.

中文翻译：

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植物中KNOX基因家族的功能分化与适应性选择

摘要 KNOTTED 样同源域 (KNOX) 基因是转录调节因子，在形态发生中起重要作用。在本研究中，进行了比较分析，以研究 10 种不同植物物种中 KNOX 基因家族特征的分子进化。我们确定了 129 个 KNOX 基因家族成员，根据多序列比对和系统发育树重建将其分为两个亚家族。发现了几个节段重复对，表明不同的物种共享一个共同的扩展模型。功能差异分析将进化速率和氨基酸理化性质发生显着变化的15和52个氨基酸位点确定为功能差异位点。额外的选择分析表明，14个氨基酸位点在进化过程中经历了正选择，使用Protein Sequences软件通过Coevolution Analysis鉴定了两组共同进化的氨基酸位点。这些位点可以在这些物种的 KNOX 基因家族的分子进化中发挥关键作用。此外，KNOX 重复基因的表达谱表现出功能差异。总之，这些结果为 KNOX 基因家族的结构和功能进化提供了新的见解。KNOX 重复基因的表达谱表现出功能差异。总之，这些结果为 KNOX 基因家族的结构和功能进化提供了新的见解。KNOX 重复基因的表达谱表现出功能差异。总之，这些结果为 KNOX 基因家族的结构和功能进化提供了新的见解。