Abstract

BackgroundAlcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) in plants are encoded by a multigene family. ADHs participate in growth, development, and adaptation in many plant species, but the evolution and function of the ADH gene family in sugarcane is still unclear.ResultsIn the present study, 151 ADH genes from 17 species including 32 ADH genes in Saccharum spontaneum and 6 ADH genes in modern sugarcane cultivar R570 were identified. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated two groups of ADH genes and suggested that these genes underwent duplication during angiosperm evolution. Whole-genome duplication (WGD)/segmental and dispersed duplications played critical roles in the expansion of ADH family in S. spontaneum and R570, respectively. ScADH3 was cloned and preferentially expressed in response to cold stress. ScADH3 conferred improved cold tolerance in E. coli cells. Ectopic expression showed that ScADH3 can also enhance cold tolerance in transgenic tobacco. The accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in leaves of transgenic tobacco was significantly lower than in wild-type tobacco. The transcript levels of ROS-related genes in transgenic tobacco increased significantly. ScADH3 seems to affect cold tolerance by regulating the ROS-related genes to maintain the ROS homeostasis.ConclusionsThis study depicted the size and composition of the ADH gene family in 17 species, and investigated their evolution pattern. Comparative genomics analysis among the ADH gene families of S. bicolor, R570 and S. spontaneum revealed their close evolutionary relationship. Functional analysis suggested that ScADH3, which maintained the steady state of ROS by regulating ROS-related genes, was related to cold tolerance. These findings will facilitate research on evolutionary and functional aspects of the ADH genes in sugarcane, especially for the understanding of ScADH3 under cold stress.

Highlights

  • Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) in plants are encoded by a multigene family

  • Identification of ADH genes in plant genomes The putative ADH or ADH-like protein sequences were submitted to the CDD database, and 151 ADH protein sequences were retrieved from the 17 selected representative plant genomes

  • The copy number of ADH genes varied among the representative lineages of plants, ranging from two in Physcomitrella patens to 32 in S. spontaneum

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) in plants are encoded by a multigene family. ADHs participate in growth, development, and adaptation in many plant species, but the evolution and function of the ADH gene family in sugarcane is still unclear. ADHs are involved in seed development [3, 4], fruit development [5], and aerobic metabolism in pollen grain [6] They help to protect plants from flooding [7], drought [8], cold [9], and salt [10] stresses. The ADH gene is involved in different aspects of plant growth and development [12, 13]. Expression of the ADH gene is induced by different environmental stresses [14], such as low temperature [9, 15], osmotic [16], drought [8], salt [10], mechanical damage [17], and the exogenous hormone abscisic acid (ABA) [18]. The ADH levels in octoploid strawberry are highly correlated with cold tolerance [15]

Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call