Genome wide identification of AGC kinase genes and their expression in response to heat and cold stresses in barley

Abstract

AGC kinases are highly conserved regulators in a variety of cellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation, and growth. They are known to play important roles in stress and hormonal responses, including ROS signaling. AGC kinases are the main class of protein kinases in plants, having central functions in different stages of plant growth. In the present study, the analysis of phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, chromosomal locations, synteny analysis, gene ontology, subcellular localization, and gene expression of AGC kinase identified 28 AGC kinase genes in barley. Phylogenetic tree grouped them into seven subfamilies, as supported by exon-intron organization. Gene duplication and synteny indicated that tandom and block duplication events played an essential role in the expansion of AGC kinase gene families in barley. The Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis performed for HvAGC kinase gene were largely expressed in different tissues of roots, stems, and leaves in Azaran and Jolgeh cultivars under heat and cold stresses. The results of chromosomal localization showed that the AGC kinases were located on all chromosomes of barley except chromosome 1. Genome evolution of species was surveyed using identification of orthologous and paralogous genes. Identifying overlaps between orthologous clusters can enable us to study the function and evolution of proteins in different species. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed report of using AGC kinases for bioinformatics analysis in barley. Results revealed a broad understanding of the AGC kinase gene family in barley, which will be valuable for improving barley varieties’ response to heat and cold stresses. Also, HvNDR6.2 gene can utilized as molecular markers under cold stress in the three organs.