Abstract
Increasing nutritional value of cereals is one of the important research and breeding objectives to overcome malnutrition in developing countries. The synthesis of grain seed proteins during grain filling is controlled by several mechanisms including transcriptional and posttranscriptional modifications. In the current investigation, transcript abundance analysis of three allelic variants of seed storage protein activator (Spa A, Spa B and Spa D) and NAM-B1 affecting seed nutrient concentration was carried out in two genotypes (UP 2672 and HS 540) of bread wheat differing in grain protein content. Expression profiling of transcription factor genes was performed using quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR). Positive correlation and significant p value > 0.05 was observed among the fold expression in developing stages of both the genotypes. Maximum expression of Spa genes was observed at S3 stage and maximum fold expression was observed for Spa B gene in case of UP 2672, the genotype with high protein content. The transcript profiling of NAM-B1 gene revealed threefold higher expression in UP 2672 than that of HS 490 at S4 stage. The findings revealed the role of transcriptional regulation in differential grain protein accumulation through varied expression and existence of their allelic variants in wheat genotypes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Albani D, Hammond-Kosack MCU, Smith C, Conlan S, Colot V, Holdsworth M, Bevan M (1997) The wheat transcriptional activator SPA: a seed-specific bZIP protein that recognizes the GCN4-like motif in the bifactorial endosperm box of prolamin genes. Plant Cell 9:171–184
Bonfil DJ, Kafkafi U (1993) Effect of soil type and mineral nutrition on glutenin-gene expression in wild and cultivated wheat. VIII Int Wheat Genet Symp Beijing, China 2:1087–1090
Brenchle R, Spannag M, Pfeifer M, Barker GL, D’Amore R (2012) Analysis of the bread wheat genome using whole-genome shotgun sequencing. Nature 491:705–710
Distelfeld A, Cakmak I, Peleg Z, Ozturk L, Yazici AM, Budak H, Saranga Y, Fahima T (2007) Multiple QTL-effects of wheat Gpc-B1 locus on grain protein and micronutrient concentrations. Physiol Plant 129:635–643
Gill BS, Appels R, Botha-Oberholster AM, Buell CR, Bennetzen JL (2004) A workshop report on wheat genome sequencing. Int Gen Res Wheat Consort Genet 168:1087–1096
Guillaumie S, Charmet G, Linossier L, Torney V, Robert N, Ravel C (2004) Co-location between a gene encoding for the bZip factor SPA and an eQTL for a high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Genome 47:705–713
Hu R, Qi G, Kong Y, Kong D, Gao U, Zhou G (2010) Comprehensive analysis of NAC domain transcription factor gene family in Populus trichocarpa. BMC Plant Biol 10:145–154
ICAR-IIWBR (2017) Director’s report of AICRP of wheat and barley 2016–17. In: Singh GP (ed) ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal, Haryana, India. P. 87.
Kumar B, Dhananjay Singh BN (2014) Evaluation of genetic divergence in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) germplasms. The Bioscan 9:755–758
Kumar A, Pathak RK, Gupta SM, Gaur VS, Pandey D (2015) Systems biology for smart crops and agricultural innovation: filling the gaps between genotype and phenotype for complex traits linked with robust agricultural productivity and sustainability. OMICS A J Integ Biol 19:581–601
Livak KJ, Schmittgen TD (2001) Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2 (-Delta Delta C(T)) method. Methods 25:402–408
Ravel C, Nagy IJ, Martre P, Sourdille P, Dardevet M, Balfourier F, Pont C, Giancola S, Praud S, Charmet G (2006) Single nucleotide polymorphism, genetic mapping, and expression of genes coding for the DOF wheat prolamin-box binding factor. Funct Integr Genom 6:310–321
Shewry PR, Halford NG (2002) Cereal seed storage proteins: structures, properties and role in grain utilization. J Exp Bot 53:947–958
Uauy C, Brevis JC, Dubcovsky J (2006a) The high grain protein content gene Gpc-B1 accelerates senescence and has pleiotropic effects on protein content in wheat. J Exp Bot 57:2785–2794
Uauy C, Distelfeld A, Fahima T, Blechl A, Dubcovsky J (2006b) A NAC gene regulating senescence improves grain protein, zinc, and iron content in wheat. Science 314:1298–1301
Verdier J, Thompson RD (2008) Transcriptional regulation of storage protein synthesis during dicotyledon seed filling. Plant Cell Physiol 49:1263–1271
Wan Y, Poole RL, Huttly AK, Toscano-Underwood C, Feeney K, Welham S, Gooding MJ, Mills C, Edwards KJ, Shewry PR (2008) Transcriptome analysis of grain development in hexaploid wheat. BMC Genom 9:121–125
Waters BM, Uauy C, Dubcovsky J, Grusak MA (2009) Wheat (Triticum aestivum) NAM proteins regulate the translocation of iron, zinc, and nitrogen compounds from vegetative tissues to grain. J Exp Bot 60:4263–4274
Zheng Z, Kawagoe Y, Xiao S, Li Z, Okita T, Hau TL, Lin A, Murai M (1993) Distal and proximal cis-acting regulator elements are required for developmental control of a rice seed storage protein glutelin gene. Plant J 4:357–366
Acknowledgement
The logistic support provided by Director, Experiment Station, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar is acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kumar, A., Jaiswal, J.P., Sharma, N. et al. Understanding the molecular basis of differential grain protein accumulation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) through expression profiling of transcription factors related to seed nutrients storage. 3 Biotech 8, 112 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-018-1114-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-018-1114-5