scholarly journals Molecular characterization, expression and functional analysis of acyl-CoA-binding protein gene family in maize (Zea mays)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiantang Zhu ◽  
Weijun Li ◽  
Yuanyuan Zhou ◽  
Laming Pei ◽  
Jiajia Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) possess a conserved acyl-CoA-binding (ACB) domain that facilitates binding to acyl-CoA esters and trafficking in eukaryotic cells. Although the various functions of ACBP have been characterized in several plant species, their structure, molecular evolution, expression profile, and function have not been fully elucidated in Zea mays L. Results Genome-wide analysis identified nine ZmACBP genes in Z. mays, which could be divided into four distinct classes (class I, class II, class III, and class IV) via construction of a phylogenetic tree that included 48 ACBP genes from six different plant species. Transient expression of a ZmACBP-GFP fusion protein in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) epidermal cells revealed that ZmACBPs localized to multiple different locations. Analyses of expression profiles revealed that ZmACBPs exhibited temporal and spatial expression changes during abiotic and biotic stresses. Eight of the nine ZmACBP genes were also found to have significant association with agronomic traits in a panel of 500 maize inbred lines. The heterologous constitutive expression of ZmACBP1 and ZmACBP3 in Arabidopsis enhanced the resistance of these plants to salinity and drought stress, possibly through alterations in the level of lipid metabolic and stress-responsive genes. Conclusion The ACBP gene family was highly conserved across different plant species. ZmACBP genes had clear tissue and organ expression specificity and were responsive to both biotic and abiotic stresses, suggesting their roles in plant growth and stress resistance.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiantang Zhu ◽  
Weijun Li ◽  
Yuanyuan Zhou ◽  
Laming Pei ◽  
Jiajia Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) have a conserved acyl-CoA-binding (ACB) domain which facilitates binding to the acyl-CoA ester and trafficking in eukaryotic cells. Although the various functions of ACBP have been characterized in several plant species, its structural features, molecular evolution, expression profiling and function in Zea mays L . are still not clear. Results: Genome-wide analysis identified nine ZmACBP genes in Z. mays , which were divided into four groups (class I, class II, class III, and class IV) by a phylogenetic tree constructed with 48 ACBP genes from six plant species. The subcellular localizations of the ZmACBPs were displayed subcellular multi-localization via transient expression of green fluorescence protein (GFP) fusions in tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) epidermal cells. The expression profiles of ZmACBPs are dramatically different in different organs and normal growth, as well as abiotic or biotic stress by Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Eight of nine ZmACBP genes located in metaQTL regions associated with agronomic traits in maize. The heterologous constitutive expression of ZmACBP1 and ZmACBP3 in Arabidopsis enhanced the resistance to salinity and osmotic stress. Conclusion: The ACBP genes family in Z. mays were highly conserved. ZmACBP genes had clear tissue and organ expression preference and were involved in abiotic or biotic stress response, suggesting their roles in plant growth and stress resistance.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zulfiqar Ahmad ◽  
Xiangsheng Zeng ◽  
Qiang Dong ◽  
Sehrish Manan ◽  
Huanan Jin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Members of the BAHD acyltransferase (ACT) family play important roles in plant defence against biotic and abiotic stresses. Previous genome-wide studies explored different acyltransferase gene families, but not a single study was found so far on the overall genome-wide or positive selection analyses of the BAHD family genes in Glycine max . A better understanding of the functions that specific members of this family play in stress defence can lead to better breeding strategies for stress tolerance. Results: A total of 103 genes of the BAHD family (GmACT genes) were mined from the soybean genome, which could be grouped into four phylogenetic clades (I- IV). Clade III was further divided into two sub-clades (IIIA and IIIB). In each clade, the constituent part of the gene structures and motifs were relatively conserved. These 103 genes were distributed unequally on all 20 chromosomes, and 16 paralogous pairs were found within the family. Positive selection analysis revealed important amino acids under strong positive selection, which suggests that the evolution of this gene family modulated soybean domestication. Most of the expression of ACT genes in soybean was repressed with Al 3+ and fungal elicitor exposure, except for GmACT84 , which expression increased in these conditions 2- and 3-fold, respectively. The promoter region of GmACT84 contains the maximum number of stress-responsive elements among all GmACT genes and is especially enriched in MYB-related elements. Some GmACT genes showed expression specific under specific conditions, while others showed constitutive expression in all soybean tissues or conditions analysed. Conclusions: This study provided a genome-wide analysis of the BAHD gene family and assessed their expression profiles. We found evidence of a strong positive selection of GmACT genes. Our findings will help efforts of functional characterisation of ACT genes in soybean in order to discover their involvement in growth, development, and defence mechanisms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 575-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Shen ◽  
Qing-Li Jia ◽  
Ming-Zhe Liu ◽  
Zhuo-Wei Li ◽  
Li-Li Wang ◽  
...  

Caleosin are a class of calcium-binding proteins embedded in the phospholipid monolayer of lipid droplets. In addition to maintaining thestructure of lipid droplets, caleosin proteins areinvolved in dormancy and lipid signaling, and areassociatedwith the stress response via their histidine-dependent peroxygenase activity. To date, caleosins have been studied in Arabidopsis thaliana. However, little is known about these genes in legumes,including the most cultivated oilseed crop, soybean. In this paper,20 caleosin genes in soybean, common bean and barrel medic werestudied. Among these, 13 caleosin genes, including 3 in Glycine max, 5 in Phaseolus vulgarisand 5 in Medicago truncatula, are identified for the first time. The structures, characteristics and evolution of the 20 caleosin proteins are analyzed. Expansion patterns show that tandem duplication was the main reason for the caleosin family expansion in the legume. Expression profiles indicate that L-caleosin in soybean and common bean are more important than H-caleosin, which is just the opposite in Arabidopsis thaliana. GmaCLO2, PvuCLO1, PvuCLO3and MtrCLO3may play important roles, while GmaCLO6, GmaCLO10and MtrCLO4may lose their function in the examined tissues. In addition, according to the results of cis-element analyses, we propose potential functions for the more important caleosin genes in leguminous plants. Our work provides helpful information for further evolution and function analyses of the caleosin gene family in soybean, common bean and barrel medic.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zulfiqar Ahmad ◽  
Xiangsheng Zeng ◽  
Qiang Dong ◽  
Sehrish Manan ◽  
Huanan Jin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Members of the BAHD acyltransferase (ACT) family play important roles in plant defence against biotic and abiotic stresses. A better understanding of the functions that specific members of this family play in stress defence can lead to better breeding strategies for stress tolerance. Previous genome-wide studies explored other acyltransferase families, but so far not a single study has been published on genome-wide or positive selection analyses of the BAHD genes in Glycine max . Results: A total of 103 genes of the BAHD family (GmACT genes) were identified from the soybean genome, which could be grouped into four phylogenetic clades (I-IV). Clade III was further divided into two sub-clades (IIIA and IIIB). In each clade, the gene structure and functional motifs were relatively well conserved. These ACT genes were unequally distributed on all 20 chromosomes, and 16 paralogous pairs were found within the family. Positive selection analysis revealed amino acids under strong positive selection, which suggests that the evolution of this gene family modulated soybean domestication. Some GmACT genes showed expression specific under specific conditions, while others showed constitutive expression in all soybean tissues or conditions analysed. Most of the expression of ACT genes in soybean was repressed with Al 3+ and fungal elicitor exposure, except for GmACT84 , which expression increased in these conditions 2- and 3-fold, respectively. The promoter of GmACT84 contains the maximum number of stress-responsive elements among all GmACT genes and it is especially enriched in MYB-related elements. Conclusions: This study provides a genome-wide analysis of the BAHD gene family and assessed their expression profiles in soybean. We found evidence of a strong positive selection of GmACT genes. Our findings will help efforts of functional characterisation of ACT genes in soybean in order to discover their involvement in growth, development, and defence mechanisms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parviz Heidari ◽  
Sahar Faraji ◽  
Mostafa Ahmadizadeh ◽  
Sunny Ahmar ◽  
Freddy Mora-Poblete

The TIFY gene family, a key plant-specific transcription factor (TF) family, is involved in diverse biological processes including plant defense and growth regulation. Despite TIFY proteins being reported in some plant species, a genome-wide comparative and comprehensive analysis of TIFY genes in plant species can reveal more details. In the current study, the members of the TIFY gene family were significantly increased by the identification of 18 and six new members using maize and tomato reference genomes, respectively. Thus, a genome-wide comparative analysis of the TIFY gene family between 48 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum, a dicot plant) genes and 26 maize (Zea mays, a monocot plant) genes was performed in terms of sequence structure, phylogenetics, expression, regulatory systems, and protein interaction. The identified TIFYs were clustered into four subfamilies, namely, TIFY-S, JAZ, ZML, and PPD. The PPD subfamily was only detected in tomato. Within the context of the biological process, TIFY family genes in both studied plant species are predicted to be involved in various important processes, such as reproduction, metabolic processes, responses to stresses, and cell signaling. The Ka/Ks ratios of the duplicated paralogous gene pairs indicate that all of the duplicated pairs in the TIFY gene family of tomato have been influenced by an intense purifying selection, whereas in the maize genome, there are three duplicated blocks containing Ka/Ks > 1, which are implicated in evolution with positive selection. The amino acid residues present in the active site pocket of TIFY proteins partially differ in each subfamily, although the Mg or Ca ions exist heterogeneously in the centers of the active sites of all the predicted TIFY protein models. Based on the expression profiles of TIFY genes in both plant species, JAZ subfamily proteins are more associated with the response to abiotic and biotic stresses than other subfamilies. In conclusion, globally scrutinizing and comparing the maize and tomato TIFY genes showed that TIFY genes play a critical role in cell reproduction, plant growth, and responses to stress conditions, and the conserved regulatory mechanisms may control their expression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 6556
Author(s):  
Junjun Huang ◽  
Xiaoyu Li ◽  
Xin Chen ◽  
Yaru Guo ◽  
Weihong Liang ◽  
...  

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins are a gene super-family in plants and play vital roles in growth, development, and response to abiotic and biotic stresses. The ABC transporters have been identified in crop plants such as rice and buckwheat, but little is known about them in soybean. Soybean is an important oil crop and is one of the five major crops in the world. In this study, 255 ABC genes that putatively encode ABC transporters were identified from soybean through bioinformatics and then categorized into eight subfamilies, including 7 ABCAs, 52 ABCBs, 48 ABCCs, 5 ABCDs, 1 ABCEs, 10 ABCFs, 111 ABCGs, and 21 ABCIs. Their phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, and gene expression profiles were characterized. Segmental duplication was the main reason for the expansion of the GmABC genes. Ka/Ks analysis suggested that intense purifying selection was accompanied by the evolution of GmABC genes. The genome-wide collinearity of soybean with other species showed that GmABCs were relatively conserved and that collinear ABCs between species may have originated from the same ancestor. Gene expression analysis of GmABCs revealed the distinct expression pattern in different tissues and diverse developmental stages. The candidate genes GmABCB23, GmABCB25, GmABCB48, GmABCB52, GmABCI1, GmABCI5, and GmABCI13 were responsive to Al toxicity. This work on the GmABC gene family provides useful information for future studies on ABC transporters in soybean and potential targets for the cultivation of new germplasm resources of aluminum-tolerant soybean.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kewei Cai ◽  
Huixin Liu ◽  
Song Chen ◽  
Yi Liu ◽  
Xiyang Zhao ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Class III peroxidases (POD) proteins are widely present in the plant kingdom that are involved in a broad range of physiological processes including stress responses and lignin polymerization throughout the plant life cycle. At present, POD genes have been studied in Arabidopsis, rice, poplar, maize and Chinese pear, but there are no reports on the identification and function of POD gene family in Betula pendula. Results We identified 90 nonredundant POD genes in Betula pendula. (designated BpPODs). According to phylogenetic relationships, these POD genes were classified into 12 groups. The BpPODs are distributed in different numbers on the 14 chromosomes, and some BpPODs were located sequentially in tandem on chromosomes. In addition, we analyzed the conserved domains of BpPOD proteins and found that they contain highly conserved motifs. We also investigated their expression patterns in different tissues, the results showed that some BpPODs might play an important role in xylem, leaf, root and flower. Furthermore, under low temperature conditions, some BpPODs showed different expression patterns at different times. Conclusions The research on the structure and function of the POD genes in Betula pendula plays a very important role in understanding the growth and development process and the molecular mechanism of stress resistance. These results lay the theoretical foundation for the genetic improvement of Betula pendula.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhixuan Du ◽  
Qitao Su ◽  
Zheng Wu ◽  
Zhou Huang ◽  
Jianzhong Bao ◽  
...  

AbstractMultidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) proteins are involved in many physiological functions of plant growth and development. Although an increasing number of MATE proteins have been identified, the understanding of MATE proteins is still very limited in rice. In this study, 46 MATE proteins were identified from the rice (Oryza sativa) genome by homology searches and domain prediction. The rice MATE family was divided into four subfamilies based on the phylogenetic tree. Tandem repeats and fragment replication contribute to the expansion of the rice MATE gene family. Gene structure and cis-regulatory elements reveal the potential functions of MATE genes. Analysis of gene expression showed that most of MATE genes were constitutively expressed and the expression patterns of genes in different tissues were analyzed using RNA-seq. Furthermore, qRT-PCR-based analysis showed differential expression patterns in response to salt and drought stress. The analysis results of this study provide comprehensive information on the MATE gene family in rice and will aid in understanding the functional divergence of MATE genes.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1867
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Xiang Li ◽  
Jiatong Wei ◽  
Kewei Cai ◽  
Hongzhi Zhang ◽  
...  

WRKY transcription factors constitute one of the largest gene families in plants and are involved in many biological processes, including growth and development, physiological metabolism, and the stress response. In earlier studies, the WRKY gene family of proteins has been extensively studied and analyzed in many plant species. However, information on WRKY transcription factors in Acer truncatum has not been reported. In this study, we conducted genome-wide identification and analysis of the WRKY gene family in A. truncatum, 54 WRKY genes were unevenly located on all 13 chromosomes of A. truncatum, the highest number was found in chromosomes 5. Phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, and conserved motif identification were constructed, and the results affirmed 54 AtruWRKY genes were divided into nine subgroup groups. Tissue species analysis of AtruWRKY genes revealed which were differently exhibited upregulation in flower, leaf, root, seed and stem, and the upregulation number were 23, 14, 34, 18, and 8, respectively. In addition, the WRKY genes expression in leaf under cold stress showed that more genes were significantly expressed under 0, 6 and 12 h cold stress. The results of this study provide a new insight the regulatory function of WRKY genes under abiotic and biotic stresses.


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