拟南芥START结构域亚家族生物信息学分析及功能

Bioinformatics analysis of the subfamily containing START domain and study on its function in Arabidopsis

START(The Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein-related Lipid Transfer)结构域广泛存在于动物和植物中,参与脂质分子的转移,发挥多种生物学功能。为明确拟南芥START结构域家族成员的结构特征及功能机制,本研究以拟南芥START结构域亚家族为研究对象,通过生物信息学对该家族成员的进化关系、理化性质、基因结构、启动子顺式作用元件进行分析比较,在此基础上,通过qRT-PCR技术,对仅含START结构域亚家族成员在拟南芥发育不同组织表达特性进行了分析,通过分析仅含START结构域亚家族成员的功能获得和功能缺失的转基因拟南芥幼苗形态,确定该亚家族成员对拟南芥幼苗生长的调控作用。结果发现,拟南芥START结构域家族共有35个成员,仅含START结构域亚家族9个成员,但在进化树分析中At4g26920和At5g07260与其余7个成员不在同一分枝中,且其疏水性结合位点不同。仅含START结构域亚家族成员中仅有At3g23080不稳定系数小于40,较为稳定,多数成员均为不稳定蛋白质。基因表达分析表明仅含START结构域亚家族成员具有明显的组织特异表达特性,参与调控幼苗生长发育,为深入探究START结构域调控植物生长发育的生物学功能和作用机制奠定了基础。

START(The Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein-related Lipid Transfer)domain is widely present in animals and plants and is involved in the transfer of lipid molecules.In order to clarify the structural characteristics and functional mechanisms of the subfamily members containing START domain in Arabidopsis,this study takes the subfamily containing START domain only as the research object.The evolutionary relationship,physical and chemical properties,gene structure,and promoter cis-acting originals of the subfamily members were analyzed through bioinformatics.On the basis of bioinformatics analysis,the expression characteristics of the subfamily members containing the START domain only in different Arabidopsis tissues were analyzed using qRT-PCR technology.The regulatory function of the subfamily members containing START domain only on the growth of Arabidopsis seedlings was determined by analyzing the morphology of the transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings with functional gaining and lossing.The results showed that there are 35 members containing START domain in Arabidopsis thaliana,in which there were 9 members containing START domain only.However,the phylogenetic tree analysis shows that At4g26920 and At5g07260 are not in the same branch with the other 7 members,and their hydrophobic binding site is different.The instability coefficient of At3g23080 is less than 40(relatively stable)and most members are unstable proteins.Gene expression analysis indicated that members containing START domain only had obvious tissue-specific expression characteristics and participated in regulating the seedling growth and development.The results lay a foundation for further research on the biological function and mechanism of START domain in regulating plant growth and development.