The @entity68081 gene ( @entity68081 ) in @entity2829 encodes a transcriptional activator that controls the expression of various genes during kernel development, particularly some of the most abundant endosperm storage protein genes. Compared to its wild relative @entity13877 , @entity2829 has bigger and heavier kernels, with an increased proportion of starch and an altered distribution of the various storage protein categories. The molecular evolution of the @entity68081 gene was investigated in connection with its possible involvement in the domestication process. Most of the coding sequence and parts of introns, 5'UTR, and 3' noncoding regions were sequenced in a set of cultivated and @entity13877 accessions. One hundred six polymorphic sites (5.4%) and 72 insertions/deletions, located mostly in noncoding regions, were found. Molecular diversity was quite high (pi = 0.0138, theta = 0.0167) compared to that of other transcription factors in @entity2829 . The synonymous and nonsynonymous diversity patterns along the coding sequence suggested that different regions are submitted to different functional constraints. Such an evolution would probably be favored by the observed rapid decay of linkage disequilibrium with distance. Cultivated accessions retained about 70% of the diversity observed in @entity13877 . Purifying selection was detected in both @entity2829 and @entity13877 . No conclusive evidence was obtained for a role of the @entity68081 gene in the domestication process.

Molecular evolution of the @entity68081 gene in XXXX .

@entity13877 :: ('76912', 'Species') :: ['teosinte', 'teosintes'] @entity68081 :: ('542375(Tax:4577)', 'Gene') :: ['Opaque-2', 'O2'] @entity2829 :: ('4577', 'Species') :: ['maize']
@entity2829 :: (4577,Species) :: ['Zea mays L']
