Comprehensive Expression Profiling of Rice Tetraspanin Genes Reveals Diverse Roles During Development and Abiotic Stress

Abstract

Tetraspanin family is comprised of evolutionarily conserved integral membrane proteins. The incredible ability of tetraspanins to form ‘micro domain complexes’ and their preferential targeting to membranes emphasizes their active association with signal recognition and communication with neighboring cells, thus acting as key modulators of signaling cascades. In animals, tetraspanins are associated with multitude of cellular processes. Unlike animals, the biological relevance of tetraspanins in plants has not been well investigated. In Arabidopsis tetraspanins are known to contribute in important plant development processes such as leaf morphogenesis, root, and floral organ formation. In the present study we investigated the genomic organization, chromosomal distribution, phylogeny and domain structure of 15 rice tetraspanin proteins (OsTETs). OsTET proteins had similar domain structure and signature ‘GCCK/R’ motif as reported in Arabidopsis. Comprehensive expression profiling of OsTET genes suggested their possible involvement during rice development. While OsTET9 and 10 accumulated predominantly in flowers, OsTET5, 8, and 12 were preferentially expressed in root tissues. Noticeably, seven OsTETs exhibited more than twofold up regulation at early stages of flag leaf senescence in rice. Furthermore, several OsTETs were differentially regulated in rice seedlings exposed to abiotic stresses, exogenous treatment of hormones and nutrient deprivation. Transient subcellular localization studies of eight OsTET proteins in tobacco epidermal cells showed that these proteins localized in plasma membrane. The present study provides valuable insights into the possible roles of tetraspanins in regulating development and defining response to abiotic stresses in rice. Targeted proteomic studies would be useful in identification of their interacting partners under different conditions and ultimately their biological function in plants.

Differential tetraspanin genes expression and subcellular localization during mutualistic interactions in Phaseolus vulgaris

“…AtTET10 and OsTET14 from O . sativa can be considered the founders of the tetraspanin family in their respective species [35, 50]. We identified 13 putative tetraspanin sequences in P .…”

“…vulgaris , 25 in Glycine max , 9 in Medicago truncatula , and 5 in Lotus japonicus (Fig 1 and S2 Fig). Seventeen tetraspanins have been described in the model plant Arabidopsis and 15 in Oryza sativa [35, 50]. PvTET10, and other orthologs of AtTET10 and OsTET14, have between 10 and 12 introns in all reported genomes, including Marchantia polymorpha and Physcomitrella patens .…”

A Rice CPYC-Type Glutaredoxin OsGRX20 in Protection against Bacterial Blight, Methyl Viologen and Salt Stresses

“…A 2501-bp promoter sequence of OsGRX20 gene from Xiushui 11 was identical with that from Yongjing 50A. In this sequence, several putative cis -elements associated with stress responses including heat shock element, low temperature response element ( Mani et al, 2015 ), MYB binding site ( Smita et al, 2015 ), dehydration-responsive element ( Maruyama et al, 2012 ) and W-box ( Smita et al, 2015 ), were identified by using the PlantCARE and PLACE databases. Consistently, the transcript levels of OsGRX20 significantly responded to Xoo attack, MeV, heat, cold, salt, and PEG-6000 treatments in our expression studies ( Figure 3 and Supplementary Figure S2A ).…”

“…Consistently, the transcript levels of OsGRX20 significantly responded to Xoo attack, MeV, heat, cold, salt, and PEG-6000 treatments in our expression studies ( Figure 3 and Supplementary Figure S2A ). The hormone-responsive elements were also identified in the promoter region of OsGRX20 gene: ABREs or ABA-responsive elements ( Maruyama et al, 2012 ), TGACG- or CGTCA-motif responsible for JA-responsiveness ( Mani et al, 2015 ), AuxRE for auxin response ( Smita et al, 2015 ), TCA-element for the response to SA and pathogen infection ( Mou et al, 2013 ). Furthermore we found that OsGRX20 transcript showed a significant increase in response to exogenous application of SA, JA, ABA, and 2,4-D (Supplementary Figure S2B ).…”

TETRASPANINs in Plants

“…In Oryza sativa 15 TET genes have been annotated, which Mani et al (2015) have recently begun to functionally characterize. Their analysis of rice microarray datasets and spatial-temporal expression profiles indicated that similar to AtTETs OsTETs display variable and partially overlapping expression patterns and are regulated by abiotic stresses, leaf senescence, nutrient deprivation and hormones.…”