Genome-wide identification and characterization of non-specific lipid transfer proteins in cabbage.

Jialei Ji,Yangyong Zhang,Limei Yang,Mu Zhuang,Yumei Liu,Zhansheng Li,Zhiyuan Fang,Honghao Lv

doi:10.7717/peerj.5379

Abstract

Plant non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) are a group of small, secreted proteins that can reversibly bind and transport hydrophobic molecules. NsLTPs play an important role in plant development and resistance to stress. To date, little is known about the nsLTP family in cabbage. In this study, a total of 89 nsLTP genes were identified via comprehensive research on the cabbage genome. These cabbage nsLTPs were classified into six types (1, 2, C, D, E and G). The gene structure, physical and chemical characteristics, homology, conserved motifs, subcellular localization, tertiary structure and phylogeny of the cabbage nsLTPs were comprehensively investigated. Spatial expression analysis revealed that most of the identified nsLTP genes were positively expressed in cabbage, and many of them exhibited patterns of differential and tissue-specific expression. The expression patterns of the nsLTP genes in response to biotic and abiotic stresses were also investigated. Numerous nsLTP genes in cabbage were found to be related to the resistance to stress. Moreover, the expression patterns of some nsLTP paralogs in cabbage showed evident divergence. This study promotes the understanding of nsLTPs characteristics in cabbage and lays the foundation for further functional studies investigating cabbage nsLTPs.

Highlights

Non-specific lipid transfer proteins, which are involved in binding and transporting various lipids, widely exist in the plant kingdom (Edstam et al, 2011)
Identification of the putative Non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) genes in cabbage The nsLTP genes were identified by using the HMM search program in HMMER3 and a BLAST search against cabbage proteome
The results showed that the fluorescence signals of BoLTP1.7 and BoLTP2.3 fused with GFP were detected in the extracellular environment, indicating they are secreted proteins (Fig. S3)

Summary

Introduction

Non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs), which are involved in binding and transporting various lipids, widely exist in the plant kingdom (Edstam et al, 2011). The mature nsLTPs are small proteins characterized by an eight-cysteine motif (8CM) with the basic form of C-Xn-C-Xn-CC-Xn-CXC-Xn-C-Xn-C (José-Estanyol, Gomis-Rüth & Puigdomènech, 2004). These eight cysteines are engaged in four disulfide bonds that stabilize the three-dimensional structure of the hydrophobic cavity, which allows the binding of different lipids and hydrophobic compounds (Douliez et al, 2000; Salminen, Blomqvist & Edqvist, 2016). How to cite this article Ji et al (2018), Genome-wide identification and characterization of non-specific lipid transfer proteins in cabbage.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion