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X1-homologous genes family as central components in biotic and abiotic stresses response in maize (Zea mays L.)

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Abstract

X1-homologous genes (XHS) encode plant specific proteins containing three basic domains (XH, XS, zf-XS). In spite of their physiological importance, systematic analyses of ZmXHS genes have not yet been explored. In this study, we isolated and characterized ten ZmXHS genes in a whole-of-genome analysis of the maize genome. A total of ten members of this family were identified in maize genome. The ten ZmXHS genes were distributed on seven maize chromosomes. Multiple alignment and motif display results revealed that most ZmXHS proteins share all the three conserved domains. Putative cis-elements involved in abiotic stress responsive, phytohormone, pollen-specific and quantitative, seed development and germination, light and circadian rhythms regulation, Ca2+-responsive, root hair cell-specific, and CO2-responsive transcriptional activation were observed in the promoters of ZmXHS genes. Yeast hybrid assay revealed that the XH domain of ZmXHS5 was necessary for interaction with itself and ZmXHS2. Microarray data showed that the ZmXHS genes had tissue-specific expression patterns in the maize developmental steps and biotic stresses response. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis results indicated that, except ZmXHS9, the other nine ZmXHS genes were induced in the seedling leaves by at least one of the four abiotic stresses applied.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

bZIP:

Basic leucine zipper

DAP:

Day after pollination

ORF:

Open reading frame

PEG:

Polyethylene glycol

RDR6:

RNA-dependent RNA polymeraes 6

XH:

X1 homologue

XHS:

XH and XS domain

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to editors and reviewers for their helpful comments and the providers who submitted the microarray data to the public expression databases which can be applied freely. This work was supported partly by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission (No. Z111100066111005 and Z121100001512012); Beijing Nova Program (No. Z121105002512031); Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (No. KJCX201102003), and the Youth Foundation (No. QNJJ201303).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Agro-Biotechnology Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, 100097, China

    Zhongbao Zhang, Yajuan Chen, Dan Zhao, Ruifen Li, Hongzhi Wang, Jiewei Zhang & Jianhua Wei

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing, 100097, China

    Zhongbao Zhang, Yajuan Chen, Dan Zhao, Ruifen Li, Hongzhi Wang, Jiewei Zhang & Jianhua Wei

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  1. Zhongbao Zhang
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Correspondence to Jianhua Wei.

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Zhang, Z., Chen, Y., Zhao, D. et al. X1-homologous genes family as central components in biotic and abiotic stresses response in maize (Zea mays L.). Funct Integr Genomics 14, 101–110 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-013-0343-2

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