Journal of Zhejiang Agricultural Sciences ›› 2026, Vol. 67 ›› Issue (10): 2598-2604.DOI: 10.16178/j.issn.0528-9017.20260609

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Mechanisms of gene duplication-driven formation of plant specialized metabolic diversity

LI Zhengya(), WANG Yazhe, WU Qi, LIU Chuanhao, LI Xiaoyan, WANG Yu()   

  1. College of Life Science,Northeast Forestry University,Harbin 150040,Heilongjiang
  • Received:2026-08-04 Online:2026-10-11 Published:2026-10-19
  • Contact: WANG Yu

Abstract:

Plant specialized metabolites exhibit remarkable structural diversity and pronounced lineage specificity. These compounds play important roles in plant defense,environmental adaptation,and interspecific interactions,and also represent valuable resources for the development of pharmaceuticals,foods,and natural products. By generating redundant genetic material,gene duplication enables metabolic enzymes to escape ancestral functional constraints and acquire novel catalytic activities,thereby serving as a major driving force in the diversification of plant specialized metabolism. Different modes of gene duplication vary in genomic scale,chromosomal location,and selective constraints,and consequently contribute differently to the coordinated retention of metabolic networks,the rapid expansion of enzyme families,and the remodeling of regulatory environments. Following duplication,gene copies may undergo loss,pseudogenization,dosage retention,subfunctionalization,or neofunctionalization. Through these evolutionary fates,duplicated genes promote metabolic diversity by altering pathway flux,modifying substrate and product specificity,reshaping expression patterns and subcellular localization,and facilitating the emergence of new metabolic branches and biosynthetic gene clusters. This review summarizes the major modes of gene duplication in plants and their evolutionary consequences for specialized metabolism,outlines the mechanisms underlying the retention and functional divergence of duplicated genes,and highlights representative advances in which gene duplication has driven the innovation of metabolic scaffolds,diversification of structural modifications,and emergence of new biosynthetic pathways. Future directions,including ancestral enzyme reconstruction,pan-genome analysis,and synthetic biology applications,are also discussed. This review provides a conceptual framework for understanding the evolutionary basis of plant chemical diversity and for facilitating the discovery and utilization of specialized metabolic resources.

Key words: gene duplication, plant specialized metabolism, neofunctionalization, enzyme functional divergence, biosynthetic gene cluster, metabolic evolution

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