Characterization of a Putative Serk-Like Ortholog in Embryogenic Cell Suspension Cultures of Coffea arabica L.

The acquisition of embryogenic cell suspension cultures (ECS) has been the objective of studies on in vitro induction of somatic embryogenesis with biotechnological tools, due to the high efficiency of ECS as plant material for genetic transformation and large-scale production and cryopreservation of germplasm. The objective of this work was to identify and analyze one of the main gene families involved in somatic embryogenesis, somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinase (SERK) in coffee (Coffea arabica L.). Coffee SERKs were identified by searching an EST (expression sequences tag) database generated by the Brazilian Coffee Genome Project starting from candidate sequences obtained from the NCBI database (National Center for Biotechnology Information) . In silico analysis and quantitative PCR results imply that the identified EST-contig C166 might directly be involved in somatic embryogenesis. The results suggest that C166 is the possible ortholog of SERK in C. arabica (CaSERK) and indicate that C166 might be a valuable bio-marker for ECS, and in that context can increase the methodological efficiency for ECS formation in C. arabica. Functional analysis of CaSERK with mutants of a more manageable species will lead to a better understanding of the molecular regulation as well as the specific functions of genes involved in somatic embryogenesis in coffe

The polymorphisms of genes associated with the profile of fatty acids of sheep

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of polymorphisms in Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGTA-1 and 2), Fatty acid synthase (FASN), Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) genes and the Thioesterase domain of FASN (TE-FASN) gene that may be related to the lipid profile. In the experiment, a total of 84 sheep from different genetic groups were used. For the evaluation of the polymorphism of the genes, PCR-Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) technique and subsequent sequencing were used. In DGAT-2 gene, four genotypes were identified with the presence of 6 polymorphisms, with two (c.229T> C; c.255T> C) that resulted into the exchange of phenylalanine by leucine. In FASN gene, two genotypes were identified. In TE-FASN gene, three genotypes and 17 polymorphisms were identified. DGAT-1 and SCD genes did not reveal the occurrence of polymorphism. There was difference in relation to C14: 0, C18: 0 fatty acids and Δ9-desaturase C18 for DGAT-2 gene and of C18: 2ω6t for TE-FASN. There were differences among the genetic groups for C10: 0, C12: 0, C17: 0, C18: 2ω6t, C18: 3ω3, C20: 2, total of ω3, ω3/ω6 and atherogenicity index. There is occurrence of polymorphism of DGAT-2 and TE-FASN genes and these should be further studied in sheep since they revealed influence of the genotypes on the fatty acid profile