Gene Expression Patterns for Proteins With Lectin Domains in Flax Stem Tissues Are Related to Deposition of Distinct Cell Wall Types

Abstract

The genomes of higher plants encode a variety of proteins with lectin domains that are able to specifically recognize certain carbohydrates. Plants are enriched in a variety of potentially complementary glycans, many of which are located in the cell wall. We performed a genome-wide search for flax proteins with lectin domains and compared the expression of the encoding genes in different stem tissues that have distinct cell wall types with different sets of major polysaccharides. Over 400 genes encoding proteins with lectin domains that belong to different families were revealed in the flax genome; three quarters of these genes were expressed in stem tissues. Hierarchical clustering of the data for all expressed lectins grouped the analyzed samples according to their characteristic cell wall type. Most lectins differentially expressed in tissues with primary, secondary, and tertiary cell walls were predicted to localize at the plasma membrane or cell wall. These lectins were from different families and had various architectural types. Three out of four flax genes for proteins with jacalin-like domains were highly upregulated in bast fibers at the stage of tertiary cell wall deposition. The dynamic changes in transcript level of many genes for lectins from various families were detected in stem tissue over the course of gravitropic response induced by plant gravistimulation. The data obtained in this study indicate a large number of lectin-mediated events in plants and provide insight into the proteins that take part in tissue specialization and reaction to abiotic stress.

Functional Characterization of an Amaranth Natterin-4-Like-1 Gene in Arabidopsis thaliana

“…This localization also agreed with the anti-fungal effect against F. oxysporum, a notorious soil-borne pathogen of several plant crops, observed in overexpressing AhN4L-1 A. thaliana plants. In addition to AhN4L-1, several other lectins have been reported to suppress fungal growth, although less efficiently than the well-known pathogenesis-related defensin and thionin proteins (Tsaneva and Van Damme, 2020;Petrova et al, 2021).…”

Using FIBexDB for In-Depth Analysis of Flax Lectin Gene Expression in Response to Fusarium oxysporum Infection

“…Based on different criteria, such as subcellular localization, molecular structure, sequence, or abundance, lectins can be classified in different ways [5]. Plant proteins with lectin domains are divided into 12-18 families in accordance with their conserved carbohydrate-binding sites, the sequence, and the three-dimensional structure of the lectin motif [5][6][7]. The majority of the families are named after their most studied representative within the group, for example, GNA (Galanthus nivalis agglutinin), Legume (first described for Leguminosae), Malectin and Malectin-like (maltose and related oligosaccharide binding lectin), LysM (Lysin motif), Nictaba (Nicotiana tabacum agglutinin), Calreticulin (calciumbinding protein present in the endoplasmic reticulum), etc.…”

“…The majority of the families are named after their most studied representative within the group, for example, GNA (Galanthus nivalis agglutinin), Legume (first described for Leguminosae), Malectin and Malectin-like (maltose and related oligosaccharide binding lectin), LysM (Lysin motif), Nictaba (Nicotiana tabacum agglutinin), Calreticulin (calciumbinding protein present in the endoplasmic reticulum), etc. [6]. Analysis of fully sequenced plant genomes revealed a huge variety of plant lectins, both quantitative and qualitative.…”

“…Recently, the revision of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) proteins with lectin domains has been carried out [6]; 406 genes encoding lectin domain-containing proteins in the flax genome were identified. It was reported that about 75% of all these proteins were expressed in different tissues of the flax stem during normal plant development.…”

“…It was reported that about 75% of all these proteins were expressed in different tissues of the flax stem during normal plant development. Different sets of upregulated genes were found in tissues enriched with primary, secondary, and tertiary cell walls [6]. In the current work, we consider flax lectins via the prism of their "classic" function (as defense proteins) and analyze the behavior of flax lectins in root tips during fungal infection.…”