New insights into evolution and functional diversification of Camellia sinensis LRR-RLKs

• Published in: Physiology and molecular biology of plants Vol. 30; no. 5; pp. 851 - 866
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zaibao, Ye, Fan, Hu, Kuanru, Luo, Tian, Miao, Zhiwei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biological and Medical Physics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biophysics; Camellia sinensis; Cell Biology; Cell membranes; Disease resistance; Gene expression; Genes; Kinases; Leucine; Life Sciences; Morphogenesis; Plant growth; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Receptors; Research Article; Subgroups; Phylogenetic analysis; Segmental duplication; Transcriptomics; Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases
• ISSN: 0971-5894; 0974-0430
• DOI: 10.1007/s12298-024-01458-1

Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) represent the largest subgroup of receptor-like kinases (RLKs) in plants. While some LRR-RLK members play a role in regulating various plant growth processes related to morphogenesis, disease resistance, and stress response, the functions of most LRR-RLK genes remain unclear. In this study, we identified 397 LRR-RLK genes from the genome of Camellia sinensis and categorized them into 16 subfamilies. Approximately 62% of CsLRR-RLK genes are situated in regions resulting from segmental duplications, suggesting that the expansion of CsLRR-RLK genes is due to segmental duplications. Analysis of gene expression patterns revealed differential expression of CsLRR-RLK genes across different tissues and in response to stress. Furthermore, we demonstrated that CssEMS1 localizes to the cell membrane and can complement Arabidopsis ems1 mutant. This study is the initial in-depth evolutionary examination of LRR-RLKs in tea and provides a basis for future investigations into their functionality.