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Genome-wide analysis and identification of HAK potassium transporter gene family in maize (Zea mays L.)

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Abstract

The high-affinity K+ (HAK) transporter gene family constitutes the largest family that functions as potassium transporter in plant and is important for various cellular processes of plant life. In spite of their physiological importance, systematic analyses of ZmHAK genes have not yet been investigated. In this paper, we indicated the isolation and characterization of ZmHAK genes in whole-genome wide by using bioinformatics methods. A total of 27 members (ZmHAK1–ZmHAK27) of this family were identified in maize genome. ZmHAK genes were distributed in all the maize 10 chromosomes. These genes expanded in the maize genome partly due to tandem and segmental duplication events. Multiple alignment and motif display results revealed major maize ZmHAK proteins share all the three conserved domains. Phylogenetic analysis indicated ZmHAK family can be divided into six subfamilies. Putative cis-elements involved in Ca2+ response, abiotic stress adaption, light and circadian rhythms regulation and seed development were observed in the promoters of ZmHAK genes. Expression data mining suggested maize ZmHAK genes have temporal and spatial expression pattern. In all, these results will provide molecular insights into the potassium transporter research in maize.

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Abbreviations

GA3 :

Gibberellin

HAK:

High-affinity K+

NAA:

Naphthaleneacetic acid

ORF:

Open reading frame

KCO:

K+ channel openers

KT:

Cytokinin

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to editors and reviewers for their helpful comments. This work was supported partly by the International Science and Technology Cooperation Project (ISTCP) in China (No. 2010DFB33740) and the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission (No. Z111100066111005).

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

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

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  1. Zhongbao Zhang
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  2. Jiewei Zhang
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Correspondence to Jianhua Wei.

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Zhang, Z., Zhang, J., Chen, Y. et al. Genome-wide analysis and identification of HAK potassium transporter gene family in maize (Zea mays L.). Mol Biol Rep 39, 8465–8473 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-012-1700-2

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