Abstract
Lysine-rich (Lys-rich) proteins encoded by AGP17, AGP18, and AGP19 genes are cell wall-associated glycopeptides related to sexual reproduction in flowering plants. This subclass belongs to classical arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) widely studied in model plants like Arabidopsis. In this study, we identified the CaAGP18 cDNA from bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), as well as its expression pattern during vegetative and reproductive development. The deduced amino acid sequence revealed a Lys-rich AGP18 protein of 238 amino acids residues in length with an estimated molecular mass of 22.85 kDa and an isoelectric point of 9.7. The protein is predicted as canonical AGP due to the presence of a small Lys-rich region and a C-terminal sequence essential for posttranslational modification with a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI). Phylogenetic analysis showed that CaAGP18 is clustered together with NtAGP18, SpAGP18, StAGP18 and NaAGP18 from Solanaceae species. CaAGP18 expression through plant phenological stages had the highest transcription level in leaves at the seedling stage, whereas in reproductive organs there was a significant up-regulation in pistils during anthesis, also in petals 2 days post-anthesis (DPA), and in fruit at the expansion stage. Our results open future research for possible roles of CaAGP18 in cell expansion as a wall-associated plasticizer and reproductive processes like pistil interactions and petal cell death.
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Acknowledgements
MVP work was supported by a PhD scholarship from the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT Mexico), No. 273500. MAIO thanks CONACyT for grant CB2012-01-178296. We thank Dr. Carmen Contreras, Nancy Bojórquez and Pedro Rojas for contributions in figure edition, field sampling and culture establishment. Thanks to Dr. Rogerio Sotelo-Mundo and Daniel Lira for critical reading of the manuscript.
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Conceived and designed the experiments: JASB, MVP, MAIO, TOE. Performed the experiments: MVP. Analyzed the data: MVP, JASB, MAIO. Wrote the paper: MVP, JASB, MAIO. Reviewed the paper: JLF, TOE, JBH, JAOC, RVR. Final approval of the version to be published: JASB, MAIO.
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Verdugo-Perales, M., Velez-de la Rocha, R., León-Félix, J. et al. Gene expression of an arabinogalactan lysine-rich protein CaAGP18 during vegetative and reproductive development of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). 3 Biotech 8, 5 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-017-1031-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-017-1031-z