Assessment of the C4 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase gene diversity in grasses (Poaceae)

C-4 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) is a key enzyme in the C-4 photosynthetic pathway. To analyze the diversity of the corresponding gene in grasses, we designed PCR primers to specifically amplify C-4 PEPC cDNA fragments. Using RT-PCR, we generated partial PEPC cDNA sequences in several grasses displaying a C-4 photosynthetic pathway. All these sequences displayed a high homology (78-99%) with known grass C-4 PEPCs. PCR amplification did not occur in two grasses that display the C-3 photosynthetic pathway, and therefore we assumed that all generated sequences corresponded to C-4 PEPC transcripts. Based on one large cDNA segment, phylogenetic reconstruction enabled us to assess the relationships between 22 grass species belonging to the subfamilies Panicoideae, Arundinoideae and Chloridoideae. The phylogenetic relationships between species deduced from C-4 PEPC sequences were similar to those deduced from other molecular data. The sequence evolution of the C-4 PEPC isoform was faster than in the other PEPC isoforms. Finally, the utility of the C-4 PEPC gene phylogeny to study the evolution of C-4 photosynthesis in grasses is discussed.