Andreia Carina Turchetto-Zolet

Aedes aegypti is a major public health concern worldwide due to its role as a vector of arboviral diseases, particularly dengue. In the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, the presence of this mosquito has expanded to nearly all municipalities. This study provides the first data on the molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of Ae. aegypti larvae collected from 26 localities across Rio Grande do Sul. Using the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, 402 sequences of 658 bp were analyzed. In total, 43 haplotypes were identified, revealing high haplotype diversity (Hd = 0.7556) and low nucleotide diversity (π = 0.00570). Neutrality tests (Fu’s Fs) indicated population expansion. Pairwise genetic differentiation (FST) ranged from moderate (0.08957) to very high (0.97233). Molecular variance analysis indicated that the most variation occurred within populations (74.02%). No isolation based on distance was detected. Phylogenetic analysis suggested the presence of two genetic lineages and multiple introductions. These findings offer critical insights for vector surveillance, emphasizing the importance of integrating genetic monitoring into public health strategies for dengue prevention in Rio Grande do Sul.

Myrtaceae is a family of woody trees with over 5,800 species, representing the sixth most diverse plant family. It includes many economically important mem

Introduction: ABA, Stress, and Ripening (ASR) proteins are characterized by the presence of the ABA/WDS domain and are involved in plant development processes and tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Despite their importance as transcription factors or molecular chaperones, a complete understanding of their biological roles is limited by a lack of information on their mechanisms of action, protein structure, and evolutionary relationships between family members. Our previous molecular dynamics simulation analysis of rice OsASR5 suggested that H⁹¹, R⁹², H⁹³, and K⁹⁴, are the main residues involved in the interaction with DNA, essential for the transcription factor activity of this protein. However, the presence and conservation of the DNA-binding domain among ASR family members remain unknown. Likewise, there is a lack of phylogenetic analyses evaluating the evolutionary history of ASR proteins across major taxonomic groups, outside just the Solanum species.Methods: To address these gaps, we conducted a phylogenetic study and protein sequence analyses to gain insights into the evolution of ASR genes in plants. We performed a genome-wide identification of ASR genes via HMMER, using the ABA/WDS domain, in 163 Archaeplastida genomes.Results and discussion: Our results reveal that the potential origin of the ASR gene occurred in the common ancestor of Streptophytes (Charophytes and Embryophytes). Moreover, our study identifies ASR genes in seedless plants. The evolutionary relationship between 465 ASR homologs, found in 76 species, was estimated through maximum likelihood analysis. The results reinforce the rapid and dynamic evolution of the ASR gene family, reflected by the low support in the deep nodes of the phylogeny and the great variation in the number of ASRs in the genomes evaluated, and in some cases their complete absence. As for diversification, tandem duplications seem to be the main mechanism involved. Regarding the conservation of residues in the domain, only two of the 78 are widely conserved, such as E⁷⁹ and H⁹³. By analyzing the three-dimensional model, we noticed the interaction between them and we hypothesize that they are essential for the stabilization of the domain during interaction with DNA.

Understanding the evolution and the effect of plasticity in plant responses to environmental changes is crucial to combat global climate change. It is particularly interesting in species that survive in distinct environments, such as Eugenia uniflora, which thrives in contrasting ecosystems within the Atlantic Forest (AF). In this study, we combined transcriptome analyses of plants growing in nature (Restinga and Riparian Forest) with greenhouse experiments to unveil the DEGs within and among adaptively divergent populations of E. uniflora. We compared global gene expression among plants from two distinct ecological niches. We found many differentially expressed genes between the two populations in natural and greenhouse-cultivated environments. The changes in how genes are expressed may be related to the species’ ability to adapt to specific environmental conditions. The main difference in gene expression was observed when plants from Restinga were compared with their offspring cultivated in greenhouses, suggesting that there are distinct selection pressures underlying the local environmental and ecological factors of each Restinga and Riparian Forest ecosystem. Many of these genes engage in the stress response, such as water and nutrient transport, temperature, light intensity, and gene regulation. The stress-responsive genes we found are potential genes for selection in these populations. These findings revealed the adaptive potential of E. uniflora and contributed to our understanding of the role of gene expression reprogramming in plant evolution and niche adaptation.

The accumulation of proline in response to the most diverse types of stress is a widespread defense mechanism. In prokaryotes, fungi, and certain unicellular eukaryotes (green algae), the first two reactions of proline biosynthesis occur through two distinct enzymes, γ-glutamyl kinase (GK E.C. 2.7.2.11) and γ-glutamyl phosphate reductase (GPR E.C. 1.2.1.41), encoded by two different genes, ProB and ProA, respectively. Plants, animals, and a few unicellular eukaryotes carry out these reactions through a single bifunctional enzyme, the Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS), which has the GK and GPR domains fused. To better understand the origin and diversification of the P5CS gene, we use a robust phylogenetic approach with a broad sampling of the P5CS, ProB and ProA genes, including species from all three domains of life. Our results suggest that the collected P5CS genes have arisen from a single fusion event between the ProA and ProB gene paralogs. A peculiar fusion event occurred in an ancestral eukaryotic lineage and was spread to other lineages through horizontal gene transfer. As for the diversification of this gene family, the phylogeny of the P5CS gene in plants shows that there have been multiple independent processes of duplication and loss of this gene, with the duplications being related to old polyploidy events.

Terpenoids are essential for plant growth, development, defense, and adaptation mechanisms.Psidium cattleyanum(Myrtaceae) is a fleshy fruit tree species endemics from Atlantic Forest, known for its pleasant fragrance and sweet taste, attributed to terpenoids in its leaves and fruits. In this study, we conducted genome-wide identification, evolutionary and expression analyses of the terpene synthase gene (TPS) family inP. cattleyanumred guava (var.cattleyanum), and yellow guava (var.lucidum Hort.) morphotypes. We identified 32 full-length TPS in red guava (RedTPS) and 30 in yellow guava (YlwTPS). We showed different expression patterns of TPS paralogous in the two morphotypes, suggesting the existence of distinct gene regulation mechanisms and their influence on the final essential oil content in both morphotypes. Moreover, the oil profile of red guava was dominated by 1,8-cineole and linalool and yellow guava was enriched in α-pinene, coincident in proportion to TPS-b1 genes, which encode enzymes that produce cyclic monoterpenes, suggesting a lineage-specific subfamily expansion of this family. Finally, we identified amino acid residues near the catalytic center and functional areas under positive selection. Our findings provide valuable insights into the terpene biosynthesis in a Neotropical Myrtaceae species and their potential involvement in adaptation mechanisms.

DOF (DNA binding with one finger) proteins are part of a plant-specific transcription factor (TF) gene family widely involved in plant development and stress responses. Many studies have uncovered their structural and functional characteristics in recent years, leading to a rising number of genome-wide identification study approaches, unveiling the DOF family expansion in angiosperm species. Nonetheless, these studies primarily concentrate on particular taxonomic groups. Identifying DOF TFs within less-represented groups is equally crucial, as it enhances our comprehension of their evolutionary history, contributions to plant phenotypic diversity, and role in adaptation. This review summarizes the main findings and progress of genome-wide identification and characterization studies of DOF TFs in Viridiplantae, exposing their roles as players in plant adaptation and a glimpse of their evolutionary history. We also present updated data on the identification and number of DOF genes in native and wild species. Altogether, these data, comprising a phylogenetic analysis of 2124 DOF homologs spanning 83 different species, will contribute to identifying new functional DOF groups, adding to our understanding of the mechanisms driving plant evolution and offering valuable insights into their potential applications.