Identification and characterization of a LEA family gene CarLEA4 from chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract

Late-embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins have been reported to be closely correlated with the acquisition of desiccation tolerance during seed development and response of plant to drought, salinity, and freezing, etc. In this study, a LEA gene, CarLEA4 (GenBank accession no. GU247511), was isolated from chickpea based on a cDNA library constructed with chickpea seedling leaves treated by polyethylene glycol (PEG). CarLEA4 contained two exons and one intron within genomic DNA sequence and encoded a putative polypeptide of 152 amino acids. CarLEA4 had a conserved pfam domain, and showed high similarity to the group 4 LEA proteins in secondary structure. It was localized in the nucleus. The transcripts of CarLEA4 were detected in many chickpea organs including seedling leaves, stems, roots, flowers, young pods, and young seeds. CarLEA4 was inhibited by leaf age and showed expression changes in expression during seed development, pod development and germination. Furthermore, the expression of CarLEA4 was strongly induced by drought, salt, heat, cold, ABA, IAA, GA(3) and MeJA. Our results suggest that CarLEA4 encodes a protein of LEA group 4 and may be involved in various plant developmental processes and abiotic stress responses.

Elucidating the role of osmotic, ionic and major salt responsive transcript components towards salinity tolerance in contrasting chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes

“…The higher abundance of TPS transcript and biosynthesis of trehalose in CSG8962 in the salt stress might lead to increase the accumulation of proline and higher leaf water content (Jang et al 2003;Hackel et al 2012). LEA proteins are related to osmotic tolerance and response of the plant to drought and salinity stress (Gu et al 2012). Based on structural characteristics and homology in amino acid sequence, LEA proteins have been classified into six different groups (Hong-Bo et al 2005).…”

“…Hence, we selected these six important genes for our study. LEA proteins are a group of hydrophilic proteins that play a vital role in protecting the native conformation of macromolecules under abiotic stresses by forming a hydration layer around them (Gu et al 2012). Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) are a group of low molecular weight cysteine-rich soluble proteins having the peculiar ability to transfer phospholipids between membranes and play a major role in repair of stress-induced injuries in membranes via ABAdependent/independent signalling pathway (Pan et al 2016).…”

Discovery of DNA polymorphisms via whole genome resequencing and their functional relevance in salinity stress response in chickpea

“…Expression of another chickpea gene encoding the myo-inositol synthase (CaMIPS2) showed salt stress tolerance in transgenic yeast (Kaur et al, 2008). In addition, expression profiling at whole genome level and of different gene families, including LEU, homeobox, GST, ARF, and F-box, suggested their role in salinity stress response in chickpeas (Bhattacharjee et al, 2016;Garg et al, 2014Garg et al, , 2016Ghangal et al, 2020;Gu et al, 2012;Jia et al, 2012;Romo et al, 2001;Singh et al, 2018).…”

Improving Salt Tolerance of Chickpea Using Modern Genomics Tools and Molecular Breeding

“…Further, during the response to salinity stress in chickpea, Lipid Transfer Proteins (LTPs) form an impermeable layer, which obstructs water loss and retains cell turgidity [ 57 ]. The CapLTP gene in chickpea was expressed in young tissues and during early developmental stages in response to water stress, suggesting implications for protecting cellular functions from damage caused by high ion concentration.…”

“…The activation of TFs and gene transcription is highly dependent on up-regulated plant hormones such as ABA, Indole Acetic Acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) [ 49 , 99 ], which induce expression of CarLEA genes. Accordingly, CarLEA genes ( CarLEA1 , CarLEA2 and CarLEA4 ) isolated from chickpea cDNA libraries, were found to impart desiccation tolerance during seed development, thereby protecting plants against a variety of stresses, including drought, salinity and freezing [ 57 , 58 ].…”