Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Non-radioactive in situ Hybridization Protocol Applicable for Norway Spruce and a Range of Plant Species
Published on: April 17, 2009
Characterization of MADS-box genes in charophycean green algae and its implication for the evolution of MADS-box
Yoichi Tanabe1, Mitsuyasu Hasebe, Hiroyuki Sekimoto
1Department of Multi-Disciplinary Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
Abstract:
The MADS-box genes of land plants are extensively diverged to form a superfamily and are important in various aspects of development including the specification of floral organs as homeotic selector genes. The closest relatives of land plants are the freshwater green algae charophyceans. To study the origin and evolution of land plant MADS-box genes, we characterized these genes in three charophycean green algae: the stonewort Chara globularis, the coleochaete Coleochaete scutata, and the desmid Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale complex. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that MADS-box genes diverged extensively in the land plant lineage after the separation of charophyceans from land plants. The stonewort C. globularis mRNA was specifically detected in the oogonium and antheridium together with the egg and spermatozoid during their differentiation. The expression of the C. peracerosum-strigosum-littorale-complex gene increased when vegetative cells began to differentiate into gametangial cells and decreased after fertilization. These expression patterns suggest that the precursors of land plant MADS-box genes originally functioned in haploid reproductive cell differentiation and that the haploid MADS-box genes were recruited into a diploid generation during the evolution of land plants.
More Related Videos
08:00Agrobacterium tumefaciens-Mediated Genetic Engineering of Green Microalgae, Chlorella vulgaris
Published on: October 27, 2023
10:10Investigating Tissue- and Organ-specific Phytochrome Responses using FACS-assisted Cell-type Specific Expression Profiling in Arabidopsis thaliana
Published on: May 29, 2010
Related Concept Videos
Green Algae
Red Algae
Gene Duplication and Divergence
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are characterized.
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Gene Families
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Cell Specific Gene Expression