Cotton Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA2) Genes Promote Root Growth and Confer Drought Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana.

ABSTRACT: Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins play key roles in plant drought tolerance. In this study, 157, 85 and 89 candidate LEA2 proteins were identified in G. hirsutum, G. arboreum and G. raimondii respectively. LEA2 genes were classified into 6 groups, designated as group 1 to 6. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed orthologous gene pairs within the cotton genome. The cotton specific LEA2 motifs identified were E, R and D in addition to Y, K and S motifs. The genes were distributed on all chromosomes. LEA2s were found to be highly enriched in non-polar, aliphatic amino acid residues, with leucine being the highest, 9.1% in proportion. The miRNA, ghr-miR827a/b/c/d and ghr-miR164 targeted many genes are known to be drought stress responsive. Various stress-responsive regulatory elements,

SUBMITTER: Magwanga RO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6071604 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature