Preprint Article Version 2 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

In Silico Analysis Identified bZIP Transcription Factors under Abiotic Stress in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

Version 1 : Received: 8 February 2022 / Approved: 23 February 2022 / Online: 23 February 2022 (13:40:34 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 25 March 2023 / Approved: 27 March 2023 / Online: 27 March 2023 (08:37:10 CEST)

How to cite: Parajuli, A.; Borphukan, B.; Sanguinet, K.; Zhang, Z. In Silico Analysis Identified bZIP Transcription Factors under Abiotic Stress in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Preprints 2022, 2022020295. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0295.v2 Parajuli, A.; Borphukan, B.; Sanguinet, K.; Zhang, Z. In Silico Analysis Identified bZIP Transcription Factors under Abiotic Stress in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Preprints 2022, 2022020295. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0295.v2

Abstract

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is the most cultivated forage legume around the world. Under a variety of growing conditions, forage yield in alfalfa is stymied by biotic and abiotic stresses including heat, salt, drought, and disease. Given the sessile nature of plants, they use strategies such as differential gene expression to respond to environmental cues. Transcription factors control the expression of genes that contribute to or enable tolerance and survival during periods of stress. Basic-leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors have been demonstrated to play a critical role in regulating plant growth and development as well as mediate the responses to abiotic stress in several species, including Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Lotus japonicus, and Medicago truncatula. However, there is little information about bZIP transcription factors in cultivated alfalfa. In the present study, 237 bZIP genes were identified in alfalfa from publicly available sequencing data. Multiple sequence alignments showed the presence of intact bZIP motifs in the identified sequences. Based on previous phylogenetic analyses in Arabidopsis thaliana, alfalfa bZIPs were similarly divided and fell into 10 groups. The physicochemical properties, motif analysis, and phylogenetic study of the alfalfa bZIPs revealed high specificity within groups. The differential expression of alfalfa bZIPs in a suite of tissues indicates that particular bZIP genes are specifically expressed at different developmental stages in alfalfa. Similarly, expression analysis in response to ABA, cold, drought, and salt stresses, indicates that a subset of bZIP genes are also differentially expressed and likely play a role in abiotic stress signaling and/or tolerance. These expression patterns were further verified by qRT-PCR. However, further functional characterization of bZIP transcription factors in alfalfa will help illuminate the role they play in stress tolerance mechanisms in legumes and facilitate the molecular breeding of stress tolerance in alfalfa.

Keywords

Alfalfa; bZIP transcription factor; phylogenetic analysis; expression pattern; abiotic stress

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Plant Sciences

Comments (1)

Comment 1
Received: 27 March 2023
Commenter: Atit Parajuli
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author
Comment: 1. Title of the article is changes from Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of bZIP Transcription Factors under Abiotic Stress in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) to In Silico Analysis Identified bZIP Transcription Factors Under Abiotic Stress in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)
2. One co-authored have been added (Bhabesh Borphukan ) from Washington State University, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
3. Introduction part has been Redacted
4. Chromosomal distribution of genes have been added as supplementary figure 2
5. RT-qPCR analysis have been added as figure 7 and figure 8
6. With addition of experiment (RT-qPCR analysis), discussion part has been added as well to support the added experiment result
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