Abstract:

【Objective】 The cDNA of Antiquitin (TaATQ) was cloned from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), the sequence and structure features of its encoded protein were analyzed,and the expression levels were evaluated. 【Method】 Based on EST assembling, the cDNA of TaATQ was cloned by RT-PCR. The structure features was analyzed by homology modeling. The expression patterns of the gene in different tissues, during seeds development and under different stress, were investigated using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). 【Result】 The cDNA includes 1 530 bp complete CDS and encodes a 54 kD protein. TaATQ belongs to the 7th family of aldehyde dehydrogenase super family, it shows 91.7%, 78.1%, 58.1%, 58.3% and 58.9% identity with Antiquitin of rice, garden pea, nematode, human and mouse respectively. Functional TaATQ may form a tetramer in cell , and each monomer is composed of three typical domains, a NAD+-binding domain, a catalytic domain and an oligomerization domain. The expression levels of TaATQ in both leaf and root were increased significantly during the application of high salt. Under drought stress, the transcripts of TaATQ was elevated only in leaf. 【Conclusion】 TaATQ has typical structure features of ALDH protein family, it plays an important role during the process of stress response. TaATQ can be used as a target gene for crop genetic improvement.

Key words: wheat, Antiquitin, structure features, expression pattern