Abstract
The phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein (PEBP) family comprises ancient proteins found throughout the biosphere that play an important role in plant growth and development, flowering, seed development and dormancy. However, not all PEBP genes have been identified or analyzed in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its progenitors. In this study, we identified the PEBP genes in common wheat, Triticum dicoccoides, Triticum urartu and Aegilops tauschii by searching whole genome sequences, and characterized these genes by phylogenetic and transcriptome analyses. A total of 76, 38, 16 and 22 PEBP genes were identified in common wheat, T. dicoccoides, T. urartu and Ae. tauschii, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis classified the PEBP genes into four subfamilies (PEBP-like, MFT-like, TFL-like and FT-like); the PEBP-like subfamily was identified as a new subfamily with genes in this subfamily were conserved in plants. Group 2, 3 and 5 chromosomes of common wheat and its progenitors contained more PEBP genes than other chromosomes. The PEBP genes were conserved in wheat during evolution, and tandem duplication played a more important role in the amplification of PEBP genes than segmental duplication. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis revealed that PEBP genes showed tissue/organ-specific expression profiles and some PEBP genes were induced to express by biotic stresses. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that seven randomly selected PEBP genes expressed differently during seed germination under cold, drought, flood, heat and salt stress treatments, and five of these genes (TaPEBP1, TaPEBP5, TaPEBP9, TaPEBP66 and TaPEBP69) showed significantly higher expression under different stress treatments, indicating that these genes play important roles during seed germination under stress conditions.
Highlights
The phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein (PEBP) family comprises highly conserved proteins and is represented in all three major phylogenetic divisions: Eukaryota, Bacteria and Archaea (Banfield et al, 1998; Chautard et al, 2004; Hengst et al, 2001)
A total of 76, 38, 16, 22 and 7 PEBP genes were identified in common wheat, T. dicoccoides, T. urartu, Ae. tauschii and Arabidopsis, respectively
Among the 152 PEBPs in common wheat and its progenitors, TaPEBP23 and AetPEBP4 were identified as genes encoding the smallest proteins with 152 aa, whereas AetPEBP1 encoded the largest protein (245 aa)
Summary
The phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein (PEBP) family comprises highly conserved proteins and is represented in all three major phylogenetic divisions: Eukaryota, Bacteria and Archaea (Banfield et al, 1998; Chautard et al, 2004; Hengst et al, 2001). In Arabidopsis thaliana, six PEBP genes have been identified and grouped into three subfamilies: TFL1-like, FT-like and MFT-like (Kardailsky et al, 1999). The TFL-like subfamily comprises three genes, TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1), ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA CENTRORADIALIS. The MFT-like subfamily is ancestral to the FT-like and TFL1-like subfamilies. The MFT-like proteins function in the gametophyte, sporophyte, and seed development and germination of bryophytes, whereas the FT-like and TFL1-like proteins play important roles in the vegetative-to-reproductive phase transition in seed plants (Liu et al, 2016)
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