Mining Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) Family Genes in Cleistogenes songorica , a Xerophyte Perennial Desert Plant

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2018-11, Vol.19 (11), p.3430
• Main Authors: Muvunyi, Blaise Pascal, Yan, Qi, Wu, Fan, Min, Xueyang, Yan, Zhuan Zhuan, Kanzana, Gisele, Wang, Yanrong, Zhang, Jiyu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; abiotic stresses; Abscisic acid; Amino Acid Sequence; Bacteria; Binding sites; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes; Cleistogenes; Cleistogenes songorica; Cluster Analysis; Corn; Dehydrin; Desert Climate; Deserts; Drought; Embryogenesis; Exons - genetics; Flowers & plants; Gene expression; gene expression analysis; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Genes, Plant; Genomes; Heat stress; Homeostasis; Homology; Introns - genetics; LEA proteins; Multigene Family; Nucleotide Motifs - genetics; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Plant Proteins - chemistry; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Poaceae - genetics; Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics; Proteins; Regulatory sequences; Reproducibility of Results; Salinity; Seeds; Stress, Physiological - genetics
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms19113430

Plant growth and development depends on its ability to maintain optimal cellular homeostasis during abiotic and biotic stresses. , a xerophyte desert plant, is known to have novel drought stress adaptation strategies and contains rich pools of stress tolerance genes. Proteins encoded by (LEA) family genes promote cellular activities by functioning as disordered molecules, or by limiting collisions between enzymes during stresses. To date, functions of the family genes have been heavily investigated in many plant species except perennial monocotyledonous species. In this study, 44 putative genes were identified in the genome and were grouped into eight subfamilies, based on their conserved protein domains and domain organizations. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that Dehydrin and LEA_2 subfamily proteins shared high sequence homology with stress responsive Dehydrin proteins from Arabidopsis. Additionally, promoter regions of or subfamily genes were rich in G-box, drought responsive (MBS), and/or Abscisic acid responsive (ABRE) -regulatory elements. In addition, gene expression analyses indicated that genes from these two subfamilies were highly responsive to heat stress and ABA treatment, in both leaves and roots. In summary, the results from this study provided a comprehensive view of genes and the potential applications of these genes for the improvement of crop tolerance to abiotic stresses.