Evolutionary Divergence of TNL Disease-Resistant Proteins in Soybean (Glycine max) and Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris).

Disease-resistant genes (R genes) encode proteins that are involved in protecting plants from their pathogens and pests. Availability of complete genome sequences from soybean and common bean allowed us to perform a genome-wide identification and analysis of the Toll interleukin-1 receptor-like nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (TNL) proteins. Hidden Markov model (HMM) profiling of all protein sequences resulted in the identification of 117 and 77 regular TNL genes in soybean and common bean, respectively. We also identified TNL gene homologs with unique domains, and signal peptides as well as nuclear localization signals. The TNL genes in soybean formed 28 clusters located on 10 of the 20 chromosomes, with the majority found on chromosome 3, 6 and 16. Similarly, the TNL genes in common bean formed 14 clusters located on five of the 11 chromosomes, with the majority found on chromosome 10. Phylogenetic analyses of the TNL genes from Arabidopsis, soybean and common bean revealed less divergence within legumes relative to the divergence between legumes and Arabidopsis. Syntenic blocks were found between chromosomes Pv10 and Gm03, Pv07 and Gm10, as well as Pv01 and Gm14. The gene expression data revealed basal level expression and tissue specificity, while analysis of available microRNA data showed 37 predicted microRNA families involved in targeting the identified TNL genes in soybean and common bean.