Genome-wide gene annotation, phylogenetic tree construction, gene duplication tracing, selection pressure profiling and in vitro enzyme activity verification were integrated for analysis.
Key Findings
Type II CHI originated from the common ancestor of bryophytes and vascular plants, serving as the core catalytic subtype for canonical flavonoid biosynthesis.
Type III CHI represents a non-catalytic regulatory subtype with divergent adaptive functions during terrestrial plant stress resistance evolution.
Tandem duplication and whole-genome duplication were identified as the primary drivers of CHI family expansion, adapting land plants to UV radiation and multiple abiotic stresses.
The corresponding article Evolutionary landscape of plant chalcone isomerase-fold gene families was published in Frontiers in Plant Science (IF: 5.87).