Characterization of the XTH Gene Family: New Insight to the Roles in Soybean Flooding Tolerance

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 19; no. 9; p. 2705
• Main Authors: Song, Li, Valliyodan, Babu, Prince, Silvas, Wan, Jinrong, Nguyen, Henry T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11.09.2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Acclimatization; Arabidopsis; Bioinformatics; Catalytic activity; Cell walls; Cellulose; Chromosomes; Corn; Crosslinking; Enzymes; Flooding; Floods; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Genome, Plant; Genomes; Germination; Glycine max; Glycine max - genetics; Glycine max - growth & development; Glycine max - physiology; Glycosyltransferases - genetics; Glycosyltransferases - metabolism; Hypocotyls; Metabolism; Multigene Family; Pattern analysis; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; plant genome; plant hormone; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics; Plants, Genetically Modified - growth & development; Plants, Genetically Modified - physiology; Proteins; Rice; root plasticity; Seedlings; Soybeans; Stress, Physiological; Subgroups; Transgenic plants; transgenic soybean; Xth gene; XTH gene family; Xyloglucan; root plasticity; plant hormone; transgenic soybean; XTH gene family; plant genome; flooding; Glycine max
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms19092705

Xyloglucan endotransglycosylases/hydrolases (XTHs) are a class of enzymes involved in the construction and remodeling of cellulose/xyloglucan crosslinks and play an important role in regulating cell wall extensibility. However, little is known about this class of enzymes in soybean. Here, 61 soybean genes ( s) were identified and classified into three subgroups through comparative phylogenetic analysis. Genome duplication greatly contributed to the expansion of genes in soybean. A conserved amino acid motif responsible for the catalytic activity was identified in all GmXTHs. Further expression analysis revealed that most exhibited a distinct organ-specific expression pattern, and the expression level of many genes was significantly associated with ethylene and flooding stress. To illustrate a possible role of genes in regulating stress responses, the gene was overexpressed in soybean. The generated transgenic plants exhibited improved tolerance to flooding stress, with a higher germination rate and longer roots/hypocotyls during the seedling stage and vegetative growth stages. In summary, our combined bioinformatics and gene expression pattern analyses suggest that genes play a role in regulating soybean stress responses. The enhanced soybean flooding tolerance resulting from the expression of an XTH also supports the role of genes in regulating plant flooding stress responses.