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Levels of MeLEA3, a cDNA Sequence Coding for an Atypical Late Embryogenesis Abundant Protein in Cassava, Increase Under In Vitro Salt Stress Treatment

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Abstract

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a tropical food crop that is well adapted to critical climate and soil conditions, including drought, one of the most serious abiotic stresses that limit crop production in agriculture. Expression of late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins is involved in acquisition of tolerance to drought, cold and high salinity in many different organisms. Here, we report on the characterization of a cassava MeLEA3 cDNA sequence and its deduced amino acid sequence. MeLEA3 protein was deduced from a full-length cDNA sequence of 664 bp with a 285-bp open reading frame, consisting of 94 amino acid residues, with a calculated molecular weight of 10 kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point of 9.66. The most abundant amino acid found in MeLEA3 protein was alanine (18.09%), followed by lysine (9.57%) and serine (9.57%). A search for conserved domain revealed that MeLEA3 belongs to Pfam family LEA3, PF03242. Furthermore, Kyte–Doolittle algorithm and MitoProt II software analyses showed that MeLEA3 is a hydrophobic atypical LEA protein predicted to be exported to mitochondria. In addition, semi-quantitative RT-PCR assays showed that accumulation of MeLEA3 transcripts is increased in leaves treated with sodium chloride, indicating a potential role in salt stress response. Our results also revealed no introns within the MeLEA3 genomic sequence. This is the first study on characterization of a LEA sequence in cassava that can contribute to understanding molecular mechanisms involved in resistance of this crop to abiotic stresses.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado do Pará (FAPESPA)/SEDECT-PA and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil. The authors thank Marco Antonio Agostini for the help in the image analysis of RT-PCR assays.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Guamá, Belém, PA, Brazil, CEP 66075-110

    Carinne de Nazaré Monteiro Costa, Ailton Borges Santa Brígida, Bárbara do Nascimento Borges & Cláudia Regina Batista de Souza

  2. Laboratório de Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Guamá, Belém, PA, Brazil, CEP 66075-110

    Marco Antônio de Menezes Neto

  3. Laboratório de Biofísica e Bioquímica, Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia, Brasília, DF, Brazil, CEP 70770-900

    Luiz Joaquim Castelo Branco Carvalho

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  1. Carinne de Nazaré Monteiro Costa
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Correspondence to Cláudia Regina Batista de Souza.

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de Nazaré Monteiro Costa, C., Brígida, A.B.S., do Nascimento Borges, B. et al. Levels of MeLEA3, a cDNA Sequence Coding for an Atypical Late Embryogenesis Abundant Protein in Cassava, Increase Under In Vitro Salt Stress Treatment. Plant Mol Biol Rep 29, 997–1005 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-011-0292-7

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