Abstract
In recent years, cadmium (Cd) pollution in soil has increased with increasing industrial activities, which has restricted crop growth and agricultural development. The heavy metal ATPase (HMA) gene family contributes to heavy metal stress resistance in plants. In this study, 21 HMA genes (HvHMAs) were identified in barley (Hordeum vulgare L., Hv) using bioinformatics methods. Based on phylogenetic analysis and domain distribution, barley HMA genes were divided into five groups (A–E), and complete analyses were performed in terms of physicochemical properties, structural characteristics, conserved domains, and chromosome localization. The expression pattern analysis showed that most HvHMA genes were expressed in barley and exhibited tissue specificity. According to the fragments per kilobase of exon per million fragments values in shoots from seedlings at the 10 cm shoot stage (LEA) and phylogenetic analysis, five HvHMA genes were selected for expression analysis under Cd stress. Among the five HvHMA genes, three (HvHMA1, HvHMA3, and HvHMA4) were upregulated and two (HvHMA2 and HvHMA6) were downregulated following Cd treatments. This study serves as a foundation for clarifying the functions of HvHMA proteins in the heavy metal stress resistance of barley.
Highlights
Cadmium (Cd) pollution is one of the negative consequences of industrialization
The results showed that the 21 HvHMA proteins contained 672 (HvHMA5) to 1083 (HvHMA21) amino acid residues with molecular weights ranging from 73112.29 (HvHMA5) to 118116.93 (HvHMA21) Da
The results revealed the characteristics of the barley heavy metal ATPase (HMA) gene family in terms of physicochemical properties, phylogenetic relationships, domain distribution, chromosomal location, motif composition, intron-exon structure, as well as tissue expression
Summary
Cadmium (Cd) pollution is one of the negative consequences of industrialization. Cd is highly toxic to plants and is absorbed by the roots and accumulates in the tissues [1], which influences various processes including water and mineral uptake, respiration, and photosynthesis, and leads to the inhibition of growth and even death [2]. Typical HMA proteins contain the E1–E2 ATPase domain and haloacid dehalogenase-like hydrolase (Hydrolase) domain [11]. Both sides of the N-terminal and C-terminal metal-binding sites may possess one or more soluble metal-binding domains (MBDs) that interact with or bind to specific metal ions [6]. OsHMA3, which localizes to vacuolar membranes, was identified as the gene that controls root-to-shoot Cd translocation rates in rice [17]. These results indicate that the HMA gene family plays diverse roles in plant resistance to Cd stress
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