Abstract
The serpins are a family of structurally conserved protease inhibitors found mainly in the animal and plant kingdoms. This chapter will focus on the evolution of plant serpins brought to light by mining of the growing number of whole plant genomes. Our analysis shows remarkable diversification of plant serpins as compared to those in animals. Indeed, a degree of conservation between species is noted only at the level of comparison within plant orders, whereas in animals conservation of structure and function is noted at the phylum level. Within plants one serpin, containing the amino acids Leu-Arg in the P2–P1 position of the reactive center loop, is exceptional in that it is conserved in all genomes examined. The recently discovered function in programmed cell death is described for this serpin. We will further review the knowledge recently acquired on other plant serpins and their possible functions in cellular processes.
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Acknowledgments
We wish to acknowledge the support of the Lerner Family Plant Science Research Fund and the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and the Israel Science Foundation (757/12) to R.F.
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Cohen, M., Roberts, T.H., Fluhr, R. (2015). Serpins in Plants. In: Geiger, M., Wahlmüller, F., Furtmüller, M. (eds) The Serpin Family. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22711-5_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22711-5_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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