Abstract O-methyltransferases (OMTs) are a group of enzymes involved in several fundamental biological processes in plants, including lignin biosynthesis, pigmentation, and aroma production. Despite the intensive investigation of the role of OMTs in plant secondary metabolism, the evolution and diversification of this gene family in Solanaceae remain poorly understood. Here, we conducted a genome-wide survey of OMT genes in six Solanaceae species, reconstructing gene phylogenetic trees, predicting the potential involvement in biological processes, and investigating the exon/intron structure and chromosomal location. We identified 57 caffeoyl-CoA OMTs (CCoAOMTs) and 196 caffeic acid OMTs (COMTs) in the studied species. We observed a conserved gene block on chromosome 2 that consisted of tandem duplicated copies of OMT genes. Our results suggest that the expansion of the OMT gene family in Solanaceae was driven by whole genome duplication, segmental duplication, and tandem duplication, with multiple genes being retained by neofunctionalization and subfunctionalization. This study represents an essential first step in unraveling the evolutionary history of OMTs in Solanaceae. Our findings deepen our understanding of the crucial role of OMTs in several biological processes and highlight their significance as potential biotechnological targets.

ABSTRACT Isopods consume feces in laboratory conditions. We investigated the effects of coprophagy on food consumption and assimilation and on isopod biomass to determine the best methodological design for feeding performance experiments. We used three species of isopods representing different eco-morphological groups and two leaves with different nitrogen content. We tested three treatments: (1) free access to feces; (2) periodic removal of feces and (3) net acting as a barrier to the feces. We did not find significant difference in any isopod or leaf species for consumption rate. Assimilation efficiency did not differ significantly for any isopod or leaf either. Only growth rate was significantly different, but only for the species Atlantoscia floridana (Van Name, 1940) with the leaf Machaerium stipitatum, and it may be due to the short duration of experiments and the isopods’ susceptibility to environmental changes. Thus, we recommend the treatment access to study consumption and growth rates since it does not require any special material or extra time. If the focus is assimilation efficiency, we suggest the treatment removal because it provides more accurate values. Furthermore, more fragile species such as A. floridana require larger sample number and/or longer experiment duration for more reliable data analyses.