Abstract
As calcium signal sensors, calcium-dependent protein kinases (CPKs) play vital roles in stimulating the production of secondary metabolites to participate in plant development and response to environmental stress. However, investigations of the Glycyrrhiza uralensis CPK family genes and their multiple functions are rarely reported. In this study, a total of 23 GuCPK genes in G. uralensis were identified, and their phylogenetic relationships, evolutionary characteristics, gene structure, motif distribution, and promoter cis-acting elements were analyzed. Ten GuCPKs showed root-specific preferential expressions, and GuCPKs indicated different expression patterns under treatments of CaCl2 and NaCl. In addition, under 2.5 mM of CaCl2 and 30 mM of NaCl treatments, the diverse, induced expression of GuCPKs and significant accumulations of glycyrrhizic acid and flavonoids suggested the possible important function of GuCPKs in regulating the production of glycyrrhizic acid and flavonoids. Our results provide a genome-wide characterization of CPK family genes in G. uralensis, and serve as a foundation for understanding the potential function and regulatory mechanism of GuCPKs in promoting the biosynthesis of glycyrrhizic acid and flavonoids under salt stress.
Highlights
Plants have developed a series of transduction pathways to respond to various environmental stresses including salinity, light, water, temperature, and wounding [1,2,3]
All the 23 GuCPK open reading frame (ORF) sequences were provided in Supplementary Table
Through a genome-wide analysis, we identified 23 GuCPK gene family members that were anchored onto different scaffolds of the G. uralensis genome
Summary
Plants have developed a series of transduction pathways to respond to various environmental stresses including salinity, light, water, temperature, and wounding [1,2,3]. Subsequent signal transduction are mediated by the second messengers in cellular and sub-cellular levels, such as enzymes, transcription factors, and cytoskeletal proteins that have evolved to be appropriate for physiological responses [4,5]. Compared to the other Ca2+ sensors, CPKs contain two unique domains—the Ser/Thr kinase domain and effective factor (EF)-hand calmodulin-like domain—that endow their function to phosphorylate downstream genes [14]. In Oryza sativa, transgenic plants overexpressing OsCPK7 or OsCPK13 have been proved as positive regulators of resistance to salt, cold, and drought stresses [1,20]; OsCPK21 responds to salt stress by increasing the expression of high salinity-inducible genes in transgenic Oryza [1,21]. Tobacco NtCPK2 interacts with mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) to regulate the resistant response to abiotic and biotic stresses [1,22]. CPK gene family members have been shown to be involved in plant growth and development [23,24]
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