Abstract
ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters comprise a transport system superfamily which is ubiquitous in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. In plants, ABC transporters play important roles in hormone transport and stress tolerance. In this study, 15 BhABC transporters encoded by genes identified from the transcriptome of Betula halophila were categorized into four subfamilies (ABCB, ABCF, ABCG, and ABCI) using structural domain and phylogenetic analyses. Upon B. halophila exposure to exogenous phytohormones and abiotic stressors, gene expression patterns and transcriptional responses for each subfamily of genes were obtained using semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis. The results demonstrated that expression of most genes belonging to ABCB and ABCG subfamilies changed in response to exogenous phytohormone exposures and abiotic stress. These results suggest that BhABC genes may participate in hormone transport and that their expression may be influenced by ABA-dependent signaling pathways involved in abiotic stress responses to various stressors.
Highlights
ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are complex proteins that are responsible for the translocation of substrates across membranes
We analyzed basic characteristics including open reading frame (ORF) length, amino acid number, isoelectric point, subcellular localization, signal peptide, and transmembrane structure of proteins predicted from 15 BhABC genes predicted from the B. halophila transcriptome (Table 2)
We constructed a preliminary phylogenetic tree of BhABC transporter proteins showing that they were distributed among six subfamilies of which several contained subgroups: ABCB (MDR), ABCB (TAP), ABCF, ABCG (PDR), ABCG (WBC), and ABCI
Summary
ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are complex proteins that are responsible for the translocation of substrates across membranes. They constitute one of the largest protein families yet discovered, with widespread distribution among eukaryotes and prokaryotes [1,2]. ABC transporters can be classified into full transporter, half transporter, and soluble ABC protein subgroups based on arrangements of these domains [4]. ABC transporters can be classified into eight subfamilies based on evolutionary relatedness (A–G and ABCI; ABCH is not found in plants) [5,6]
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