Annals of Botany

Evolution and structural diversification of Nictaba-like lectin genes in food crops

April 19, 2017

1 min read

Lectins are an inherent component of plant immunity systems. Van Holle et al. study the occurrence and evolution of the family of Nictaba-like lectin genes and report the omnipresence of these genes in a wide range of plant species, including major food crops.

Chromosomal distribution of NLL genes across different species. — Chromosomal distribution of *NLL* genes across different species. All chromosomes are visualized in distinct colours and chromosome zero is defined by the scaffolds that could not be mapped on any of the chromosomes.

Many of these proposed lectins are multi-domain proteins composed of a Nictaba domain and various protein domains involved in signalling and defence-related processes. This study, focused on soybean (Glycine max) provides evidence that the protein architecture of these lectins has evolved to employ these domains in plant development, stress signalling and defence.