Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of the GmSnRK2 Family in Soybean.

Wei Zhao,Xin-An Zhou,Chi Zhang,Yong-Qing Jiao,Xue-Jiao Song,Xiang Li,Qing-Bo You,Xin-Jie Shen,Wei Guo,Yi-Hui Cheng

doi:10.3390/ijms18091834

Abstract

Sucrose non-fermenting-1 (SNF1)-related protein kinase 2s (SnRK2s) that were reported to be involved in the transduction of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, play important roles in response to biotic and abiotic stresses in plants. Compared to the systemic investigation of SnRK2s in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa, little is known regarding SnRK2s in soybean, which is one of the most important oil and protein crops. In the present study, we performed genome-wide identification and characterization of GmSnRK2s in soybean. In summary, 22 GmSnRK2s were identified and clustered into four groups. Phylogenetic analysis indicated the expansion of SnRK2 gene family during the evolution of soybean. Various cis-acting elements such as ABA Response Elements (ABREs) were identified and analyzed in the promoter regions of GmSnRK2s. The results of RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data for different soybean tissues showed that GmSnRK2s exhibited spatio-temporally specific expression patterns during soybean growth and development. Certain GmSnRK2s could respond to the treatments including salinity, ABA and strigolactones. Our results provide a foundation for the further elucidation of the function of GmSnRK2 genes in soybean.

Highlights

Plants are often exposed to various harmful environments, such as salinity, drought, pH variation, temperature and heavy metals
To investigate SnRK2 gene family in soybean, the peptides of SnRK2s of Arabidopsis thaliana and rice were used as queries to screen the soybean genome in silico (Table S1)
Combined with the functional domains predicted by InterProScan, we eventually determined 22 putative GmSnRK2 genes in the soybean genome (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Plants are often exposed to various harmful environments, such as salinity, drought, pH variation, temperature and heavy metals. The phytohormone pathways play important roles in the ability of plants to acclimatize to the stressful environments [2,3]. Abscisic acid (ABA) is one of important phytohormones, which has various physiological functions in mediating plant growth, development and stress responses, such as salt stress and water deficit stress [4,5,6]. Many factors such as Pyrabactin Resistance 1/PYR1-Like/Regulatory Component of ABA Receptor (PYR/PYL/RCAR), Clade A protein phosphatase 2Cs (PP2Cs), and ABA response element-binding factors (ABFs) are involved in the ABA signaling pathway [7]. Protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation are essential events during ABA signal transduction [8,9]

Methods

Results

Conclusion