Project description:Serine proteases has been vastly reported to be found (and identified) only in seed extracts of Canavalia ensiformis (C. ensiformis), however, our group observed expressive serine protease activities in aqueous extracts from leaves, seeds, roots, and stem, especially in a leaf extract obtained with distillated water (CE-A). Additionally, this extract demonstrated very good stability in high temperatures and in the presence of chemical agents. In order to study the serine protease activity in leaves, CE-A was submitted to benzamidine-sepharose affinity column and an enriched fraction of serine proteases, named CE-ABza was purified 1.65 fold, yielding a total recovery of about 62%. Based upon zymographic analysis in a gelatin-SDS-PAGE-, the CE-ABza fraction presented an enzymatic activity band at approximately 90 kDa molecular mass region under non-reducing conditions and three bands at 17, 32 and also at 90 kDa under reducing condition. This fraction was able to hydrolyze, in a different way, peptidomimetic and protein substrates. The maximal activity was observed at basic pH values (8.0 to 9.5) and temperature about 40°C. These enzymes exhibited important thermal stability and were significantly inhibited by serine protease inhibitors, such as benzamidine and TPCK. Calcium, magnesium, manganese and zinc ions had a negative modulation on the CE-ABza activity. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach identified showed homology with 11 plant proteases from different legumes species, indicating their presence or demonstrating that CE-Bza proteases share specific region of the primary structure of theses enzyme, although the C. ensiformis genome and protein databases are yet to be publicly available. These results demonstrated that these molecules found in both the CE-A extract and the CE-ABza fraction presented important properties that could be used as potential pharmacological and biotechnological targets as therapeutic option. Besides, identification and characterization of C. ensiformis proteases contribute to the studies of plant enzymes.
Project description:To investigate the regulatory mechanisms of GmZF392, GmZF351 and GmNFYA in oil accumulation, seeds at H3 stage of transgenic plants and JACK plants were collected for RNA extraction and sequencing. Before sequencing, qPCR showed that expression of GmZF392, GmZF351 and GmNFYA increased to about 10, 109 and 7 times respectively compared to JACK. Clean reads of RNA-sequencing were mapped to soybean genome and genes that had a 1.5 fold increase or 50% decrease, compared to JACK, were defined as differential expressed genes (DEGs).
Project description:Drought is a major limiting constraint to faba bean production worldwide, including Tunisia. However, molecular mechanisms underlying faba bean responses to drought stress are not well understood. In this context, transcriptome analysis by RNA-seq was performed to investigate drought-related genes and construct a network of faba bean drought stress response and tolerance. De novo assembly of the transcriptome generated 26,728 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Of these, 13,920 were up-regulated and 12,808 down-regulated in faba bean drought-stressed leaves. Moreover, a total of 10,800 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 2130 transcription factors involved in major metabolic pathways including abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent and -independent signaling pathway were identified. GO, KOG and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that these DEGs were involved in several important processes including photosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, response to stimulus and abiotic stress, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers, signal transduction, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and transporters, suggesting the involvement of these important pathways in faba bean response to water deficit. Various stress proteins such as late embryogenesis abundant proteins (LEA), dehydrins (DHNs) and heat shock proteins (HSPs) have been identified and their expression was robustly upregulated in drought-stressed leaves, indicating their key contribution to drought response and adaptation by conferring protection and providing stability to faba bean plant cellular processes under water deficit. The reliability of the RNA-seq results was confirmed by the analysis of 10 randomly selected genes using qRT-PCR. Taken together, these findings help advancing our knowledge and can guide breeding programs aimed at improving the tolerance of faba bean to drought stress.