Analysis of ABC1 protein family members in Lepidium apetalum seeds and the expression of LaAbc1 in seedlings in response to abiotic stresses

Abstract

To study the biological function of activity of bcl complex (ABC1) proteins in Lepidium apetalum Willd., genes encoding ABC1 family proteins were identified from the seed transcriptome. The sequence most closely related to germination at a low temperature was selected and gene expressions in response to low temperature stress further studied. The results show that 21 ABC1 genes were expressed in seeds germinating at the low temperature: 4 genes were upregulated, 6 were downregulated, and 11 were not significantly different from controls. The results of fluorescence quantification of the low-temperature stress on the seedlings of 7-d-old L. apetalum showed that seven genes were up-regulated, six genes were down-regulated, and eight genes had no significant difference. Real-time quantitative PCR results show that under the low temperature stress, the expression of the LaAbc1-3 gene increased, but its expression decreased after some time. The expression of this gene increased again after removing the low temperature stress. The expression of LaAbc1-21 gene in L. apetalum seedlings showed a trend of decreasing first and then increasing. The LaAbc1-3 gene was insensitive to salt stress. Expression of the LaAbc1-21 gene was significantly up-regulated during the salt stress. Under osmotic stress, the expression of the LaAbc1-3 gene was down-regulated, and the expression was negatively correlated with polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000) concentration. Under the PEG-6000 treatment, the expression of the LaAbc1-21 gene was significantly up-regulated, and the expression was positively correlated with concentration. These results provide a basis for further analysis of the role of the ABC1 genes in the stress resistance of L. apetalum.