The similar and different evolutionary trends of MATE family occurred between rice and Arabidopsis thaliana

Expression profiles of Arabidopsis MATE genes under various stress. (TIFF 5235 kb

Genome-scale identification of Soybean BURP domain-containing genes and their expression under stress treatments

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multiple proteins containing BURP domain have been identified in many different plant species, but not in any other organisms. To date, the molecular function of the BURP domain is still unknown, and no systematic analysis and expression profiling of the gene family in soybean (<it>Glycine max</it>) has been reported.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, multiple bioinformatics approaches were employed to identify all the members of BURP family genes in soybean. A total of 23 BURP gene types were identified. These genes had diverse structures and were distributed on chromosome 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 18. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that these BURP family genes could be classified into 5 subfamilies, and one of which defines a new subfamily, BURPV. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of transcript levels showed that 15 of the 23 genes had no expression specificity; 7 of them were specifically expressed in some of the tissues; and one of them was not expressed in any of the tissues or organs studied. The results of stress treatments showed that 17 of the 23 identified BURP family genes responded to at least one of the three stress treatments; 6 of them were not influenced by stress treatments even though a stress related <it>cis</it>-element was identified in the promoter region. No stress related <it>cis</it>-elements were found in promoter region of any BURPV member. However, qRT-PCR results indicated that all members from BURPV responded to at least one of the three stress treatments. More significantly, the members from the RD22-like subfamily showed no tissue-specific expression and they all responded to each of the three stress treatments.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We have identified and classified all the BURP domain-containing genes in soybean. Their expression patterns in different tissues and under different stress treatments were detected using qRT-PCR. 15 out of 23 BURP genes in soybean had no tissue-specific expression, while 17 out of them were stress-responsive. The data provided an insight into the evolution of the gene family and suggested that many BURP family genes may be important for plants responding to stress conditions.</p

Characterization of the fertilization independent endosperm (FIE) gene from soybean

Reproduction of angiosperm plants initiates from two fertilization events: an egg fusing with a sperm to form an embryo and a second sperm fusing with the central cell to generate an endosperm. The tryptophan-aspartate (WD) domain polycomb protein encoded by fertilization independent endosperm (FIE) gene, has been known as a repressor of hemeotic genes by interacting with other polycomb proteins, and suppresses endosperm development until fertilization. In this study, one Glycine max FIE (GmFIE) gene was cloned and its expression in different tissues, under cold and drought treatments, was analyzed using both bioinformatics and experimental methods. GmFIE showed high expression in reproductive tissues and was responsive to stress treatments, especially induced by cold. GmFIE overexpression lines of transgenic Arabidopsis were generated and analyzed. Delayed flowering was observed from most transgenic lines compared to that of wild type. Overexpression of GmFIE in Arabidopsis also leads to semi-fertile of the plants.Keywords: Polycomb proteins, fertilization independent endosperm (FIE), Glycine max, Arabidopsis thalian

Molecular Characterization of the 14-3-3 Gene Family in Brachypodium distachyon L. Reveals High Evolutionary Conservation and Diverse Responses to Abiotic Stresses

The 14-3-3 gene family identified in all eukaryotic organisms is involved in a wide range of biological processes, particularly in resistance to various abiotic stresses. Here, we performed the first comprehensive study on the molecular characterisation, phylogenetics and responses to various abiotic stresses of the 14-3-3 gene family in Brachypodium distachyon L.. A total of seven 14-3-3 genes from B. distachyon and 120 from five main lineages among 12 species were identified, which were divided into five well-conserved subfamilies. The molecular structure analysis showed that the plant 14-3-3 gene family is highly evolutionarily conserved, although certain divergence had occurred in different subfamilies. The duplication event investigation revealed that segmental duplication seemed to be the predominant form by which the 14-3-3 gene family had expanded. Moreover, seven critical amino acids were detected, which may contribute to functional divergence. Expression profiling analysis showed that BdGF14 genes were abundantly expressed in the roots, but showed low expression in the meristems. All seven BdGF14 genes showed significant expression changes under various abiotic stresses, including heavy metal, phytohormone, osmotic, and temperature stresses, which might play important roles in responses to multiple abiotic stresses mainly through participating in ABA-dependent signalling and reactive oxygen species-mediated MAPK cascade signalling pathways. In particular, BdGF14 genes generally showed upregulated expression in response to multiple stresses of high temperature, heavy metal, abscisic acid (ABA), and salicylic acid (SA), but downregulated expression under H2O2, NaCl, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) stresses. Meanwhile, dynamic transcriptional expression analysis of BdGF14 genes under longer treatments with heavy metals (Cd2+, Cr3+, Cu2+, and Zn2+) and phytohormone (ABA) and recovery revealed two main expression trends in both roots and leaves: up-down and up-down-up expression from stress treatments to recovery. This study provides new insights into the structures and functions of plant 14-3-3 genes

Screening and identification of seed-specific genes using digital differential display tools combined with microarray data from common wheat

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Wheat is one of the most important cereal crops for human beings, with seeds being the tissue of highly economic value. Various morphogenetic and metabolic processes are exclusively associated with seed maturation. The goal of this study was to screen and identify genes specifically expressed in the developing seed of wheat with an integrative utilization of digital differential display (DDD) and available online microarray databases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 201 unigenes were identified as the results of DDD screening and microarray database searching. The expressions of 6 of these were shown to be seed-specific by qRT-PCR analysis. Further GO enrichment analysis indicated that seed-specific genes were mainly associated with defense response, response to stress, multi-organism process, pathogenesis, extracellular region, nutrient reservoir activity, enzyme inhibitor activity, antioxidant activity and oxidoreductase activity. A comparison of this set of genes with the rice (<it>Oryza sativa</it>) genome was also performed and approximately three-fifths of them have rice counterparts. Between the counterparts, around 63% showed similar expression patterns according to the microarray data.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In conclusion, the DDD screening combined with microarray data analysis is an effective strategy for the identification of seed-specific expressed genes in wheat. These seed-specific genes screened during this study will provide valuable information for further studies about the functions of these genes in wheat.</p

Molecular Characterization and Expression Profiling of Brachypodium distachyon L. Cystatin Genes Reveal High Evolutionary Conservation and Functional Divergence in Response to Abiotic Stress

Cystatin is a class of proteins mainly involved in cysteine protease inhibition and plant growth and development, as well as tolerance under various abiotic stresses. In this study, we performed the first comprehensive analysis of the molecular characterization and expression profiling in response to various abiotic stresses of the cystatin gene family in Brachypodium distachyon, a novel model plant for Triticum species with huge genomes. Comprehensive searches of the Brachypodium genome database identified 25 B. distachyon cystatin (BdC) genes that are distributed unevenly on chromosomes; of these, nine and two were involved in tandem and segmental duplication events, respectively. All BdC genes had similar exon/intron structural organization, with three conserved motifs similar to those from other plant species, indicating their high evolutionary conservation. Expression profiling of 10 typical BdC genes revealed ubiquitous expression in different organs at varying expression levels. BdC gene expression in seedling leaves was particularly highly induced by various abiotic stresses, including the plant hormone abscisic acid and various environmental cues (cold, H2O2, CdCl2, salt, and drought). Interestingly, most BdC genes were significantly upregulated under multiple abiotic stresses, including BdC15 under all stresses, BdC7-2 and BdC10 under five stresses, and BdC7-1, BdC2-1, BdC14, and BdC12 under four stresses. The putative metabolic pathways of cytastin genes in response to various abiotic stresses mainly involve the aberrant protein degradation pathway and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-triggered programmed cell death signaling pathways. These observations provide a better understanding of the structural and functional characteristics of the plant cystatin gene family