Genome wide and evolutionary analysis of ALOG gene family and its role during seed development and nodulation in response to rhizobium in soybean

The ALOG family has been identified in plants (Arabidopsis LSH1 and Oryza G1) with a conserved domain (DUF640). The regulatory role of ALOG family members has been investigated in plants like rice and Arabidopsis. However, there is a lack of substantial information regarding the evaluation of ALOG genes in soybean. There were 25 ALOG genes designated as GmLSHs) are present in the soybean genome across 14 chromosomes. Numerous segmental duplications were also identified influencing the expression of this gene family. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the soybean ALOG family can be classified into four distinct groups. Members within the same group share similarities or display slight variations in motifs and gene structure. Evolutionary changes in GmLSHs proteins were found to be indirectly associated with diversifying positive selection, indicating that gene evolution plays a role in soybean domestication. Differential gene expression profile was observed among 23 out of the 25 GmLSHs genes across eight different tissues, with most of the GmLSHs exhibiting tissue-specific expression. In the Dongnong47 (DN47) cultivar, the gene expression at 18 days after flowering (DAF) to 55 DAF was gradually decreased. Furthermore, partial redundant expression was observed in some duplicated genes, while rest depicted functional diversity. The member of group2 were specifically expressed in roots at 12–36 days post inoculation (DPI), while group1 and 4 members were expressed in nodules at 12–36 DPI. These findings have provided new insights of the evolutionary process of ALOG gene family and also provided a strong base for future research on LHS genes.