Abstract
BackgroundCanavalia rosea (Sw.) DC. (bay bean) is an extremophile halophyte that is widely distributed in coastal areas of the tropics and subtropics. Seawater and drought tolerance in this species may be facilitated by aquaporins (AQPs), channel proteins that transport water and small molecules across cell membranes and thereby maintain cellular water homeostasis in the face of abiotic stress. In C. rosea, AQP diversity, protein features, and their biological functions are still largely unknown.ResultsWe describe the action of AQPs in C. rosea using evolutionary analyses coupled with promoter and expression analyses. A total of 37 AQPs were identified in the C. rosea genome and classified into five subgroups: 11 plasma membrane intrinsic proteins, 10 tonoplast intrinsic proteins, 11 Nod26-like intrinsic proteins, 4 small and basic intrinsic proteins, and 1 X-intrinsic protein. Analysis of RNA-Seq data and targeted qPCR revealed organ-specific expression of aquaporin genes and the involvement of some AQP members in adaptation of C. rosea to extreme coral reef environments. We also analyzed C. rosea sequences for phylogeny reconstruction, protein modeling, cellular localizations, and promoter analysis. Furthermore, one of PIP1 gene, CrPIP1;5, was identified as functional using a yeast expression system and transgenic overexpression in Arabidopsis.ConclusionsOur results indicate that AQPs play an important role in C. rosea responses to saline-alkaline soils and drought stress. These findings not only increase our understanding of the role AQPs play in mediating C. rosea adaptation to extreme environments, but also improve our knowledge of plant aquaporin evolution more generally.
Highlights
Canavalia rosea (Sw.) DC. is an extremophile halophyte that is widely distributed in coastal areas of the tropics and subtropics
We focused on the comparison of CrAQPs’ expression levels in adult C. rosea leaves collected from various habitats (YX Island and South China Botanical Garden (SCBG)), and the results indicated that the most of CrAQPs expressed higher in the Yongxing Island (YX) sample than in the SCBG sample, the CrPIP members (Fig. 5b)
These results suggest that CrAQPs might play diverse roles in the growth and development of C. rosea, and in this extremophile halophyte’s adaptation to coral reef habitats
Summary
Canavalia rosea (Sw.) DC. (bay bean) is an extremophile halophyte that is widely distributed in coastal areas of the tropics and subtropics. (bay bean) is an extremophile halophyte that is widely distributed in coastal areas of the tropics and subtropics. ( called bay bean) is an extremophile halophyte and nitrogen-fixing legume species that is widely distributed in coastal areas of tropical and subtropical regions and is highly adapted to seawater and drought conditions [1]. Salinization, and seasonal drought are factors that limit growth for many plants in coastal areas or coral reefs. Canavalia rosea belongs to the “mangrove associates” group, in which some elaborate mechanisms for adapting to highly saline and alkaline soils and drought stress have evolved at both the morphological and physiological-molecular levels. Saline-alkaline soils and drought stress both cause plant cellular water deficits [3] and result in water imbalances, from root water uptake to leaf transpiration [4]. Identification of genes involved in responding to water-deficit stress in C. rosea may be valuable for molecular breeding improvement of saline-alkaline and drought-related traits through genetic engineering
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