Genome-Wide Analysis of Trehalose-6-Phosphate Phosphatase Gene Family and Their Expression Profiles in Response to Abiotic Stress in Groundnut

Yue Liu, Xin Wang, Lei Ouyang, Ruonan Yao, Zhihui Wang, Yanping Kang, Liying Yan, Yuning Chen, Dongxin Huai, Qianqian Wang, Huifang Jiang, Yong Lei, Boshou Liao

Plants (Basel); 2024 Apr 9; 13(8):1056. doi: 10.3390/plants13081056.

Abstract

Trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP) is a pivotal enzyme in trehalose biosynthesis which plays an essential role in plant development and in the abiotic stress response. However, little is currently known about TPPs in groundnut. In the present study, a total of 16 AhTPP genes were identified, and can be divided into three phylogenetic subgroups. AhTPP members within the same subgroups generally displayed similar exon-intron structures and conserved motifs. Gene collinearity analysis revealed that segmental duplication was the primary factor driving the expansion of the AhTPP family. An analysis of the upstream promoter region of AhTPPs revealed eight hormone- and four stress-related responsive cis-elements. Transcriptomic analysis indicated high expression levels of AhTPP genes in roots or flowers, while RT-qPCR analysis showed upregulation of the six tested genes under different abiotic stresses, suggesting that AhTPPs play roles in growth, development, and response to various abiotic stresses. Subcellular localization analysis showed that AhTPP1A and AhTPP5A were likely located in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. To further confirm their functions, the genes AhTPP1A and AhTPP5A were individually integrated into yeast expression vectors. Subsequent experiments demonstrated that yeast cells overexpressing these genes displayed increased tolerance to osmotic and salt stress compared to the control group. This study will not only lay the foundation for further study of AhTPP gene functions, but will also provide valuable gene resources for improving abiotic stress tolerance in groundnut and other crops.

See https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38674465/

Figure 1: Identification of AhTPP gene family members in Arachis hypogaea. (A) Phylogenetic tree of AhTPPs in A. hypogaea and six other plant species. A neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree was generated using 95 TPP protein sequences from Arachis hypogaea (Ah), Arachis duranensis (Ad), Arachis ipaensis (Ai), Arabidopsis thaliana (At), Glycine max (Gm), Populus tomentosa (Pt), and Gossypium hirsutum (Gh). TPP members are clustered into three subgroups, distinguished by different colors in the phylogenetic tree. The nodes in the tree display bootstrap values, indicating the confidence level for each cluster. (B) Chromosomal distribution of AhTPPs in A. hypogaea. I–III represent three subgroup. The 30 Mb chromosomal distance is depicted on the vertical axis on the left side of the plot. AhTPP genes belonging to distinct phylogenetic subgroups are visually highlighted using different colors.