Hongxing Cao

The paper identifies a chloroplast kinase, ABC1K7, under strong purifying selection in seed plants, with a single amino acid change in coconut linked to domestication traits.

The paper investigates the absence of PEPC1 in palms and finds it restricts C4 evolution due to an ancestral molecular barrier.

This study shows that palm species lack the PEPC1 gene and regulatory elements needed for C4 photosynthesis, explaining why C4 has never evolved in palms.