Isolation and Analysis of 'ZmPto' from Maize, a Homologue to 'Pto'

Pto has been reported to play important roles in plant disease responses. The cloning and characterization of the Pto-like gene named as 'ZmPto' from maize was reported in this research. The open reading frame sequence of 'ZmPto' was obtained by using RT-PCR. Sequence analysis showed that 'ZmPto' encodes a polypeptide of 405 amino acids with predicted molecular mass of 45.0 kDa and pI of 6.01. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed the interaction of ZmPto with ZmPti1. RT-PCR analysis indicated that the 'ZmPto' expression is induced by salicylic acid (SA), abscisic acid (ABA), mannitol and salt suggesting that 'ZmPto' may play important roles in both biotic and abiotic signal transduction pathway. Additionally, the ZmPto displays different expression patterns in different tissues indicating its multiple roles in plant.