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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.04.27.063065

Genome-wide identification and transcriptional analyses of MATE transporter genes in root tips of wild Cicer spp. under aluminium stress

Zhang, X.·Weir, B.·Wei, H.·Deng, Z.·Zhang, X.-Q.·Zhang, Y.·Xu, X.·Zhao, C.·Berger, J. D.·Vance, W. H.·Bell, R. W.·JIA, Y.·Li, C.
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Abstract

Chickpea is an economically important legume crop with high nutritional value in human diets. Aluminium-toxicity poses a significant challenge for the yield improvement of this increasingly popular crop in acidic soils. The wild progenitors of chickpea may provide a more diverse gene pool for Al-tolerance in chickpea breeding. However, the genetic basis of Al-tolerance in chickpea and its wild relatives remains largely unknown. Here, we assessed the Al-tolerance of six selected wild Cicer accessions by measuring the root elongation in solution culture under control (0 {micro}M Al3+) and Al-treatment (30 {micro}M Al3+) conditions. Al-treatment significantly reduced the root elongation in all target lines compared to the control condition after 2-days growth. However, the relative reduction of root elongation in different lines varied greatly: 3 lines still retained significant root growth under Al-treatment, whilst another 2 lines displayed no root growth at all. We performed genome-wide identification of multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) encoding genes in the Cicer genome. A total of 56 annotated MATE genes were identified, which divided into 4 major phylogeny groups (G1-4). Four homologues to lupin LaMATE (> 50% aa identity; named CaMATE1-4) were clustered with previously characterised MATEs related to Al-tolerance in various other plants. qRT-PCR showed that CaMATE2 transcription in root tips was significantly up-regulated upon Al-treatment in all target lines, whilst CaMATE1 was up-regulated in all lines except Bari2_074 and Deste_064, which coincided with the lines displaying no root growth under Al-treatment. Transcriptional profiling in five Cicer tissues revealed that CaMATE1 is specifically transcribed in the root tissue, further supporting its role in Al-detoxification in roots. This first identification of MATE-encoding genes associated with Al-tolerance in Cicer paves the ways for future functional characterization of MATE genes in Cicer spp., and to facilitate future design of gene-specific markers for Al-tolerant line selection in chickpea breeding programs.

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Zhang, X., Weir, B., Wei, H., Deng, Z., Zhang, X.-Q., Zhang, Y., Xu, X., Zhao, C., Berger, J. D., Vance, W. H., Bell, R. W., JIA, Y., Li, C.. 2020-04-27. Genome-wide identification and transcriptional analyses of MATE transporter genes in root tips of wild Cicer spp. under aluminium stress. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.27.063065

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