Genome-Wide Analysis of the C2 Domain Family in Soybean and Identification of a Putative Abiotic Stress Response Gene GmC2-148

Abstract

Plant C2 domain proteins play essential biological functions in numerous plants. In this study, 180 soybean C2 domain genes were identified by screening. Phylogenetic relationship analysis revealed that C2 domain genes fell into three distinct groups with diverged gene structure and conserved functional domain. Chromosomal location analysis indicated that C2 domain genes mapped to 20 chromosomes. The transcript profiles based on RNA-seq data showed that GmC2-58, GmC2-88, and GmC2-148 had higher levels of expression under salt, drought, and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. GmC2-148, encoding a cell membrane-localized protein, had the highest level of response to various treatments according to real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis. Under salt and drought stresses, the soybean plants with GmC2-148 transgenic hairy roots showed delayed leaf rolling, a higher content of proline (Pro), and lower contents of H2O2, O2– and malondialdehyde (MDA) compared to those of the empty vector (EV) plants. The results of transgenic Arabidopsis in salt and drought treatments were consistent with those in soybean treatments. In addition, the soybean plants with GmC2-148 transgenic hairy roots increased transcript levels of several abiotic stress-related marker genes, including COR47, NCDE3, NAC11, WRKY13, DREB2A, MYB84, bZIP44, and KIN1 which resulted in enhanced abiotic stress tolerance in soybean. These results indicate that C2 domain genes are involved in response to salt and drought stresses, and this study provides a genome-wide analysis of the C2 domain family in soybean.

Unfolding molecular switches for salt stress resilience in soybean: recent advances and prospects for salt-tolerant smart plant production

“…Soybean C2 domain-containing proteins GmC2-58 , GmC2-88 , and GmC2-148 responded to salt, drought, and ABA treatments. Transgenic soybean plants of GmC2-148 maintained higher proline content, lower H 2 O 2 , O 2- and MDA and increased expression of stress-responsive genes, which enhanced drought and salt tolerance in soybean ( Sun et al., 2021b ). Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) responded to a variety of abiotic stresses.…”

A C2-Domain Abscisic Acid-Related Gene, IbCAR1, Positively Enhances Salt Tolerance in Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)

“…Triticum aestivum elicitor responsive gene ( TaERG3 ) encoding wheat C2 domain protein can be induced by low temperature, high salt, and stripe rust [ 19 ]. Glycine max C2 domain gene ( GMC2-148 ) could increase proline content, decrease malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and upregulate the expression of NAM - ATAF1/2 - CUC2 ( NAC11 ) gene, cold-responsive ( COR47 ) gene, cold-inducible ( KIN1 ) gene and other abiotic transcription factors in soybean leaves, thus improving the tolerance of salt and drought stress [ 20 ]. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of C2 domain proteins in plants and their regulatory mechanisms in flower morphogenesis, biological stress, and abiotic stress is of great significance for genetic improvement in crop yield, quality, and resistance [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Transcriptome Analysis of Soybean in Response to Different Sulfur Concentrations

“…The whole genome sequence of soybean has been published. Transcriptomic technologies have been applied in various aspects of soybean research, including seed coat color research, material synthesis pathway, identification of transcription factors (TFs), and determination of stress, disease, and insect resistances [18][19][20][21][22]. However, studies on the direct effects of sulfur on soybean transcriptome are limited, moreover, compared with nitrogen and phosphate nutrition, plant sulfur nutrition has not been extensively studied [23].…”