Dataset Information

Genome-wide analysis of metallothionein gene family in maize to reveal its role in development and stress resistance to heavy metal.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a widely cultivated cereal and has been used as an optimum heavy metal phytoremediation crop. Metallothionein (MT) proteins are small, cysteine-rich, proteins that play important roles in plant growth and development, and the regulation of stress response to heavy metals. However, the MT genes for maize have not been fully analyzed so far.

Methods

The putative ZmMT genes were identified by HMMER.The heat map of ZmMT genes spatial expression analysis was generated by using R with the log² (FPKM + 1).The expression profiles of ZmMT genes under three kinds of heavy metal stresses were quantified by using qRT-PCR. The metallothionein proteins was aligned using MAFFT and phylogenetic analysis were constructed by ClustalX 2.1. The protein theoretical molecular weight and pI, subcellular localization, TFs binding sites, were predicted using ProtParam, PSORT, PlantTFDB, respectively.

Results

A total of 9 ZmMT genes were identified in the whole genome of maize. The results showed that eight of the nine ZmMT proteins contained one highly conserved metallothio_2 domain, while ZmMT4 contained a Metallothio_PEC domain. All the ZmMT proteins could be classified into three major groups and located on five chromosomes. The ZmMT promoters contain a large number of hormone regulatory elements and hormone-related transcription factor binding sites. The ZmMT genes exhibited spatiotemporal specific expression patterns in 23 tissues of maize development stages and showed the different expression patterns in response to Cu, Cd, and Pb heavy metal stresses.

Conclusions

We identified the 9 ZmMT genes, and explored their conserved motif, tissue expression patterns, evolutionary relationship. The expression profiles of ZmMT genes under three kinds of heavy metal stresses (Cu, Cd, Pb) were analyzed. In summary, the expression of ZmMTs have poteintial to be regulated by hormones. The specific expression of ZmMTs in different tissues of maize and the response to different heavy metal stresses are revealed that the role of MT in plant growth and development, and stress resistance to heavy metals.

SUBMITTER: Gao C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8751047 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Genome-wide analysis of metallothionein gene family in maize to reveal its role in development and stress resistance to heavy metal.

Gao Canhong C Gao Kun K Yang Huixian H Ju Tangdan T Zhu Jingyi J Tang Zailin Z Zhao Liangxia L Chen Qingquan Q

Biological research 20220110 1

<h4>Background</h4>Maize (Zea mays L.) is a widely cultivated cereal and has been used as an optimum heavy metal phytoremediation crop. Metallothionein (MT) proteins are small, cysteine-rich, proteins that play important roles in plant growth and development, and the regulation of stress response to heavy metals. However, the MT genes for maize have not been fully analyzed so far.<h4>Methods</h4>The putative ZmMT genes were identified by HMMER.The heat map of ZmMT genes spatial expression analys ...[more]

PMID: 35012672

Similar Datasets

Project description:Metallothioneins (MTs) are small, cysteine-rich, heavy metal-binding proteins involved in metal homeostasis and detoxification in living organisms. In the present study, we cloned two MT genes (OcMT1 and OcMT2) from Oxya chinensis, analyzed the expression patterns of the OcMT transcripts in different tissues and at varying developmental stages using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), evaluated the functions of these two MTs using RNAi and recombinant proteins in an E. coli expression system. The full-length cDNAs of OcMT1 and OcMT2 encoded 40 and 64 amino acid residues, respectively. We found Cys-Cys, Cys-X-Cys and Cys-X-Y-Z-Cys motifs in OcMT1 and OcMT2. These motifs might serve as primary chelating sites, as in other organisms. These characteristics suggest that OcMT1 and OcMT2 may be involved in heavy metal detoxification by capturing the metals. Two OcMT were expressed at all developmental stages, and the highest levels were found in the eggs. Both transcripts were expressed in all eleven tissues examined, with the highest levels observed in the brain and optic lobes, followed by the fat body. The expression of OcMT2 was also relatively high in the ovaries. The functions of OcMT1 and OcMT2 were explored using RNA interference (RNAi) and different concentrations and treatment times for the three heavy metals. Our results indicated that mortality increased significantly from 8.5% to 16.7%, and this increase was both time- and dose-dependent. To evaluate the abilities of these two MT proteins to confer heavy metal tolerance to E. coli, the bacterial cells were transformed with pET-28a plasmids containing the OcMT genes. The optical densities of both the MT-expressing and control cells decreased with increasing concentrations of CdCl2. Nevertheless, the survival rates of the MT-overexpressing cells were higher than those of the controls. Our results suggest that these two genes play important roles in heavy metal detoxification in O. chinensis.

Dataset Information

Genome-wide analysis of metallothionein gene family in maize to reveal its role in development and stress resistance to heavy metal.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Genome-wide analysis of metallothionein gene family in maize to reveal its role in development and stress resistance to heavy metal.

Similar Datasets

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