Phylogenetic relationship among phosphomannose isomerase (PMI)‎ phosphomannose mutase (PMM)‎ and GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP)‎ in photosynthetic eukaryotes

Abstract EN

Phosphomannose isomerase (PMI), phosphomannose mutase (PMM) and GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP) are three key enzymes in the regulation of the initial steps of the L-ascorbate biosynthesis pathway.

They are widely distributed in lineages of vascular plants but hardly found in non-vascular plants.

It is hypothesized that there is an evolutionary relationship among PMI, PMM and GMP enzymes.

Here, molecular phylogenetic tree was used to infer evolutionary relationships between homologous sequences of each PMI, PMM and GMP.

This research study revealed that gene duplication events play a key role in the emergence of multiple paralogous copies of these enzymes within species called in-paralogs and out-paralogs, but speciation events can lead to the formation of orthologs of these enzymes in different species.

Moreover, the phylogenetic trees showed that PMI, PMM and GMP activities are mostly found in vascular plants compared to lower plants.

Finally, this research attempted to provide a further insight into the manner ascorbate pathway enzymes have been distributed over distinct lineages of the eukaryotes and over times