Galega officinalis L. is a perennial herb of the Fabaceae family. The flowers of G. officinalis L. are colorful and suitable for ornamental purposes. It can be used as a food complement for animals and humans, and it could promote lactation in animals and humans. In this study, we obtained the complete chloroplast genome of G. officinalis L. and found it is 125,086 bp in length. The GC content of this genome is 34.18%. Among the 112 unique genes in the chloroplast genome of G. officinalis L., 30 tRNA, 4 rRNA and 78 protein-coding genes were successfully annotated. We constructed the maximum likelihood (ML) tree with 26 species, and concluded that G. officinalis is phylogenetically closely related to the genus of Cicer, Glycine and Desmodium.
Background Oat ( Avena sativa L.) belongs to the early maturity grass subfamily of the Gramineae subfamily oats (Avena) and has excellent characteristics, such as tolerance to barrenness, salt, cold, and drought. Aquaporin (AQP) proteins belong to the major intrinsic protein (MIP) superfamily, are widely involved in plant growth and development, and play an important role in abiotic stress responses. To date, previous studies have not identified or analyzed the AsAQP gene family system, and functional studies of oat AQP genes in response to drought, cold, and salt stress have not been performed. Methods In this study, AQP genes ( AsAQP ) were identified from the oat genome, and various bioinformatics data on the AQP gene family, gene structure, gene replication, promoters and regulatory networks were analyzed. Quantitative real-time PCR technology was used to verify the expression patterns of the AQP gene family in different oat tissues under different abiotic stresses. Results In this study, a total of 45 AQP genes ( AsAQP ) were identified from the oat reference genome. According to a phylogenetic analysis, 45 AsAQP were divided into 4 subfamilies (PIP, SIP, NIP, and TIP). Among the 45 AsAQP , 23 proteins had interactions, and among these, 5AG0000633.1 had the largest number of interacting proteins. The 20 AsAQP genes were expressed in all tissues, and their expression varied greatly among different tissues and organs. All 20 AsAQP genes responded to salt, drought and cold stress. The NIP subfamily 6Ag0000836.1 gene was significantly upregulated under different abiotic stresses and could be further verified as a key candidate gene. Conclusion The findings of this study provide a comprehensive list of members and their sequence characteristics of the AsAQP protein family, laying a solid theoretical foundation for further functional analysis of AsAQP in oats. This research also offers valuable reference for the creation of stress-tolerant oat varieties through genetic engineering techniques.
Lotus corniculatus L., a member of the Fabaceae family, is considered one of the most agriculturally important forage plants, owing to its anti-bloating properties; its ability to grow in low-fertility, acidic, and high-salinity soils; and high nutritional value. In this study, we obtained the complete chloroplast genome of L. corniculatus by Illumina sequencing and GetOrganelle assembly pipeline. The whole chloroplast genome of L. corniculatus is 150,700 bp in length, and has a typical circular structure with four parts: a large single-copy region (LSC 82,117 bp), a small single-copy region (SSC 18,275 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (25,154 bp for both IRa and IRb). The overall GC content is 36.03%. The plastome has 109 unique genes, consisting of 78 protein-coding genes, 27 unique tRNA gene, and 4 unique rRNA genes. Based on the protein-coding gene sequences from 17 species, we reconstructed a maximum likelihood (ML) tree. The phylogenetic result shows that L. corniculatus has a closer relationship with Lotus japonicas.
The control of flowering time has an important impact on biomass and the environmental adaption of legumes. The CCT (CO, COL and TOC1) gene family was elucidated to participate in the molecular regulation of flowering in plants. We identified 36 CCT genes in the M. truncatula genome and they were classified into three distinct subfamilies, PRR (7), COL (11) and CMF (18). Synteny and phylogenetic analyses revealed that CCT genes occurred before the differentiation of monocot and dicot, and CCT orthologous genes might have diversified among plants. The diverse spatial-temporal expression profiles indicated that MtCCT genes could be key regulators in flowering time, as well as in the development of seeds and nodules in M. truncatula. Notably, 22 MtCCT genes with typical circadian rhythmic variations suggested their different responses to light. The response to various hormones of MtCCT genes demonstrated that they participate in plant growth and development via varied hormones dependent pathways. Moreover, six MtCCT genes were dramatically induced by salinity and dehydration treatments, illustrating their vital roles in the prevention of abiotic injury. Collectively, our study provides valuable information for the in-depth investigation of the molecular mechanism of flowering time in M. truncatula, and it also provides candidate genes for alfalfa molecular breeding with ideal flowering time.
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is considered to be the most important forage crop on a global scale. Nevertheless, soil salinity significantly decreases productivity, seriously threatening food security worldwide. One viable strategy is to explore salt stress-responsive factors and elucidate their underlying molecular mechanism, and utilize them in further alfalfa breeding. In the present study, we designated MsWRKY33 as a representative salt stress-responsive factor preferentially expressed in alfalfa roots and leaves. Subsequently, it was demonstrated that MsWRKY33 was localized in the cell nucleus, and functioned as a transcriptional activator of the W-box element. Transgenic alfalfa overexpressing MsWRKY33 displayed enhanced salt stress tolerance and antioxidant activities with no significant difference in other agronomic traits. Transcriptome profiling of MsWRKY33 transgenic alfalfa under control and salt treatment unveiled significantly altered expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger genes in transgenic alfalfa. Subsequent examination revealed that MsWRKY33 binded to the promoter of MsERF5, activating its expression and consequently fine-tuning the ROS-scavenging enzyme activity. Furthermore, MsWRKY33 interacted with the functional fragment of MsCaMBP25, which participates in Ca2+ signaling transduction. Collectively, this research offers new insight into the molecular mechanism of alfalfa salt stress tolerance and highlights the potential utility of MsWRKY33 in alfalfa breeding.