Abstract
<List> <ListItem><ItemContent> • A total of 8 <i>SOD</i> genes from watermelon were identified and bioinformatically analyzed. </ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent> • The SOD proteins from watermelon and other different plant species can be classified into five groups consistent with their metal cofactors. </ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent> • <i>ClSOD</i> genes exhibited distinctive tissue-specific and abiotic stress responsive expression patterns. </ItemContent></ListItem></List> Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an important enzyme in the antioxidant system of plants and plays a vital role in stress responses by maintaining the dynamic balance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations. Genome-wide analysis of the <i>SOD</i> gene family in various plant species has been conducted but little is known about this gene family in watermelon (<i>Citrullus lanatus</i>). Here, eight <i>SOD</i> genes were identified in the watermelon genome and are designated <i>ClCSD1-5</i>, <i>ClFSD1-2</i> and <i>ClMSD</i> according to their metal cofactors. Phylogenetic analysis shows that SOD proteins from various plant species can be classified into five groups and members in the same group possess the same metal cofactor and similar subcellular localizations. Expression analysis of the <i>ClSOD</i> genes indicates that they had tissue-specific expression patterns with high expression in different tissues including the leaves, flowers and fruit. In addition, the expression of <i>ClSOD</i> genes differed appreciably under salinity, drought and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments, indicating that they may be involved in ROS scavenging under different abiotic stresses via an ABA-dependent signaling pathway. These results lay the foundation for elucidating the function of <i>ClSOD</i> genes in stress tolerance and fruit development in watermelon.
Highlights
Plants are constantly exposed to numerous abiotic and biotic stresses including high and low temperatures, drought, salinity, high solar radiation, metal toxicity, UV radiation and pathogen infection[1,2]
Genome-wide identification of the Superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene family has been conducted in recent years in a range of plant species such as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)[13], Gossypium species[6,14], cucumber (Cucumis sativus)[15], Medicago truncatula[9], foxtail millet (Setaria italica)[16], pear (Pyrus bretschneideri)[17], Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi)[18], tea (Camellia sinensis)[19] and wheat (Triticum aestivum)[20]
All the predicted watermelon SOD proteins were subjected to Pfam and SMART tools to check that they contained the SOD domains (PF00080, PF00081 and PF02777)
Summary
Plants are constantly exposed to numerous abiotic and biotic stresses including high and low temperatures, drought, salinity, high solar radiation, metal toxicity, UV radiation and pathogen infection[1,2]. Genome-wide identification of the SOD gene family has been conducted in recent years in a range of plant species such as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)[13], Gossypium species[6,14], cucumber (Cucumis sativus)[15], Medicago truncatula[9], foxtail millet (Setaria italica)[16], pear (Pyrus bretschneideri)[17], Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi)[18], tea (Camellia sinensis)[19] and wheat (Triticum aestivum)[20]. These studies report the basic characteristics and spatiotemporal expression profiles of the SOD family genes, demonstrating that the family members are pivotal for multiple developmental plant processes. PbrCSD5 and PbrFSD1 might be closely associated with the postharvest ripening process of Fengshui pear[17] and Xanthoceras sorbifolium SOD genes have been found to be involved in ovule development after fertilization[21]
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