Genome-wide survey and expression analysis of NIN-like Protein (NLP) genes reveals its potential roles in the response to nitrate signaling in tomato

BMC Plant Biology

Xiaona Zhi¹  Yi Wang¹  Mengyuan Liu¹  Yang Wang¹ 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, 100193, Beijing, China;

关键词: NIN-like Proteins;    Tomato;    Bioinformatics;    Nitrate uptake;    Nitrogen deficiency;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-021-03116-0

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important horticultural crops, with a marked preference for nitrate as an inorganic nitrogen source. The molecular mechanisms of nitrate uptake and assimilation are poorly understood in tomato. NIN-like proteins (NLPs) are conserved, plant-specific transcription factors that play crucial roles in nitrate signaling.ResultsIn this study, genome-wide analysis identified six NLP members in tomato genome. These members were clustered into three clades in a phylogenetic tree. Comparative genomic analysis showed that SlNLP genes exhibited collinear relationships to NLPs in Arabidopsis, canola, maize and rice, and that the expansion of the SlNLP family mainly resulted from segmental duplications in the tomato genome. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed that one of the close homologs of AtNLP6/7, SlNLP3, was strongly expressed in roots during both the seedling and flowering stages, that SlNLP4 and SlNLP6 exhibited preferential expression in stems and leaves and that SlNLP6 was expressed at high levels in fruits. Furthermore, the nitrate uptake in tomato roots and the expression patterns of SlNLP genes were measured under nitrogen deficiency and nitrate resupply conditions. Four SlNLPs, SlNLP1, SlNLP2, SlNLP4 and SlNLP6, were upregulated after nitrogen starvation. And SlNLP1 and SlNLP5 were induced rapidly and temporally by nitrate.ConclusionsThese results provide significant insights into the potential diverse functions of SlNLPs to regulate nitrate uptake.

【 授权许可】

CC BY