Abstract Polyploidization events are prevalent in plants and act as an important evolutionary force for speciation, adaptation and diversification. During this process, the genome undergoes reorganization and large changes. However, the evolutionary characteristics of specific gene families are still not well investigated. Cultivated peanut is an allotetraploid that evolved from a diploid. In this study, we focused on the family of mitochondrial transcription termination factors (mTERF), which is increasing in gene number in higher plants and acts in organellar gene expression. The 65 mTERFs were identified in allotetraploid peanut, but only 31 in diploid peanut, which showed that the genome has not doubled simply during the polyploidization event. Some of the mTERFs may have emerged as a result of reverse complements, deletions, insertions, fusions and so on. mTERFs were divided into three groups according to their predicted localization. Six representative proteins showed their different localization. Most of the AhmTERF mRNAs were detected in root and leaf samples and responded to dehydration stress. Our data provide insights into the evolution of the mTERF gene family in peanut and further support the hypothesis that these genes respond to dehydration stress.

中文翻译：

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异源四倍体花生中mTERF家族的特征及其响应脱水胁迫的表达水平

摘要 多倍化事件在植物中普遍存在，是物种形成、适应和多样化的重要进化力量。在这个过程中，基因组经历了重组和大的变化。然而，特定基因家族的进化特征仍未得到很好的研究。栽培花生是由二倍体进化而来的异源四倍体。在这项研究中，我们专注于线粒体转录终止因子 (mTERF) 家族，该家族在高等植物中的基因数量不断增加，并在细胞器基因表达中起作用。在异源四倍体花生中鉴定出 65 个 mTERF，但在二倍体花生中仅鉴定出 31 个，这表明基因组在多倍化事件期间并没有简单地翻倍。一些 mTERF 可能是由于反向互补、缺失、插入、融合等等。mTERF 根据其预测的定位分为三组。六种代表性蛋白质显示了它们不同的定位。大多数 AhmTERF mRNA 在根和叶样品中检测到，并对脱水胁迫做出反应。我们的数据提供了对花生中 mTERF 基因家族进化的见解，并进一步支持了这些基因对脱水应激反应的假设。