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Expression analysis of genes encoding mitogen-activated protein kinases in maize provides a key link between abiotic stress signaling and plant reproduction

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Abstract

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) play important roles in stress responses and development in plants. Maize (Zea mays), an important cereal crop, is a model plant species for molecular studies. In the last decade, several MAPKs have been identified in maize; however, their functions have not been studied extensively. Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of maize MAPK genes could provide valuable information for understanding their functions. In this study, 20 non-redundant maize MAPK genes (ZmMPKs) were identified via a genome-wide survey. Phylogenetic analysis of MAPKs from maize, rice (Oryza sativa), Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), poplar (Populus trichocarpa), and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) classified them into four major classes. ZmMPKs in the same class had similar domains, motifs, and genomic structures. Gene duplication investigations suggested that segmental duplications made a large contribution to the expansion of ZmMPKs. A number of cis-acting elements related to plant development and response to stress and hormones were identified in the promoter regions of ZmMPKs. Furthermore, transcript profile analysis in eight tissues and organs at various developmental stages demonstrated that most ZmMPKs were preferentially expressed in reproductive tissues and organs. The transcript abundance of most ZmMPKs changed significantly under salt, drought, cold, or abscisic acid (ABA) treatments, implying that they might participate in abiotic stress and ABA signaling. These expression analyses indicated that ZmMPKs might serve as linkers between abiotic stress signaling and plant reproduction. Our data will deepen our understanding of the complexity of the maize MAPK gene family and provide new clues to investigate their functions.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31300266) and the Genetically Modified Organisms Breeding Major Projects (Grant No.2013ZX08003-002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Rice Research Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Wei Sun

  2. Shandong Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Hong Wei Sun, Shu Ke Yang, Xing Bo Lu & Xiao Hui Xu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong, China

    Hao Chen, Juan Wang & Ya Lin Sang

  4. Forest Biotechnology Group, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Hao Chen

  5. College of Forestry, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong, China

    Ya Lin Sang

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  1. Wei Sun
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Correspondence to Xing Bo Lu or Xiao Hui Xu.

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Supplementary Fig. S1

Sequence alignment and distribution of the 11 subdomains of ZmMPKs. Open and shaded areas represent unconserved and conserved regions of ZmMPKs, respectively. The degree of shading indicates the level of conservation. (GIF 463 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 39125 kb)

Supplementary Fig. S2

Phylogenetic analysis of MAPK proteins in maize, rice, Arabidopsis, poplar and tomato. Numbers on the nodes are bootstrap values based on 1000 replicates. Zm, maize; Os, rice; At, Arabidopsis; Pt, poplar; Sl, tomato. (GIF 51 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 2918 kb)

Supplementary Fig. S3

Slight changes in the ATP-binding domain and MAP kinase signature of ZmMPK1. The changed amino acids are marked in red. (GIF 17 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 444 kb)

Supplementary Table S1

(DOC 47 kb)

Supplementary Table S2

Conserved motif sequences identified by MEME tools. The motifs were numbered in order of their statistical significance (e-value), from low to high. Width, the width of the motif; Sites, the number of sites contributing to the construction of the motif; LLR, the likelihood ratio of the motif; E-value, the statistical significance of the motif. (XLS 256 kb)

Supplementary Table S3

(DOC 49 kb)

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Sun, W., Chen, H., Wang, J. et al. Expression analysis of genes encoding mitogen-activated protein kinases in maize provides a key link between abiotic stress signaling and plant reproduction. Funct Integr Genomics 15, 107–120 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-014-0410-3

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