Peculiar evolutionary history of miR390-guided TAS3-like genes in land plants.

PCR-based approach was used as a phylogenetic profiling tool to probe genomic DNA samples from representatives of evolutionary distant moss taxa, namely, classes Bryopsida, Tetraphidopsida, Polytrichopsida, Andreaeopsida, and Sphagnopsida. We found relatives of all Physcomitrella patens miR390 and TAS3-like loci in these plant taxa excluding Sphagnopsida. Importantly, cloning and sequencing of Marchantia polymorpha genomic DNA showed miR390 and TAS3-like sequences which were also found among genomic reads of M.