Sequence Peculiarity of Gnetalean Legumin-Like Seed Storage Proteins

The development of seeds as a specialized organ for the nutrition, protection, and dispersal of the next generation was an important step in the evolution of land plants. Seed maturation is accompanied by massive synthesis of storage compounds such as proteins, starch, and lipids. To study the processes of seed storage protein evolution we have partially sequenced storage proteins from maturing seeds of representatives from the gymnosperm genera Gnetum, Ephedra, and Welwitschia—morphologically diverse and unusual taxa that are grouped in most formal systems into the common order Gnetales. Based on partial N-terminal amino acid sequences, oligonucleotide primers were derived and used for PCR amplification and cloning of the corresponding cDNAs. We also describe the structure of the nuclear gene for legumin of Welwitschia mirabilis. This first gnetalean nuclear gene structure contains introns in only two of the four conserved positions previously characterized in other spermatophyte legumin genes. The distinct phylogenetic status of the gnetalean taxa is also reflected in a sequence peculiarity of their legumin genes. A comparative analysis of exon/intron sequences leads to the hypothesis that legumin genes from Gnetales belong to a monophyletic evolutionary branch clearly distinct from that of legumin genes of extant Ginkgoales and Coniferales as well as from all angiosperms. Received: 5 June 1997 / Accepted: 31 March 1998