Functional and structural profiles of GST gene family from three Populus species reveal the sequence-function decoupling of orthologous genes.

A common assumption in comparative genomics is that orthologous genes are functionally more similar than paralogous genes. However, the validity of this assumption needs to be assessed using robust experimental data. We conducted tissue-specific gene expression and protein function analyses of orthologous groups within the glutathione S-transferase (GST) gene family in three closely related Populus species: Populus trichocarpa, Populus euphratica and Populus yatungensis.