Characterization of the Nitrate Transporter gene family and functional identification of HvNRT2.1 in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Baojian Guo; Ying Li; Shuang Wang; Dongfang Li; Chao Lv; Rugen Xu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0232056

Characterization of the Nitrate Transporter gene family and functional identification of HvNRT2.1 in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

PLoS One. 2020 Apr 23;15(4):e0232056. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232056. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Baojian Guo^{1

2

3}, Ying Li^{1

2

3}, Shuang Wang^{1

2

3}, Dongfang Li^{1

2

3}, Chao Lv^{1

2

3}, Rugen Xu^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology/ Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education/ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genomics and Molecular Breeding, Agricultural College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
² Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
³ Barley Research Institution of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is the efficiency with which plants acquire and use nitrogen. Plants have high-affinity nitrate transport systems, which involve certain nitrate transporter (NRT) genes. However, limited data are available on the contribution of the NRT2/3 gene family in barley nitrate transport. In the present study, ten putative NRT2 and three putative NRT3 genes were identified using bioinformatics methods. All the HvNRT2/3 genes were located on chromosomes 3H, 5H, 6H or 7H. Remarkably, the presence of tandem repeats indicated that duplication events contributed to the expansion of the NRT2 gene family in barley. In addition, the HvNRT2/3 genes displayed various expression patterns at selected developmental stages and were induced in the roots by both low and high nitrogen levels. Furthermore, the overexpression of HvNRT2.1 improved the yield related traits in Arabidopsis. Taken together, the data generated in the present study will be useful for genome-wide analyses to determine the precise role of the HvNRT2/3 genes during barley development, with the ultimate goal of improving NUE and crop production.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anion Transport Proteins / genetics*
Anion Transport Proteins / metabolism*
Chromosome Mapping
Computational Biology / methods*
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Duplication
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Hordeum / genetics
Hordeum / growth & development*
Hordeum / metabolism
Multigene Family
Nitrate Transporters
Nitrates / metabolism
Phylogeny
Plant Proteins / genetics
Plant Proteins / metabolism
Plant Roots / genetics
Plant Roots / growth & development
Plant Roots / metabolism
Tandem Repeat Sequences

Substances

Anion Transport Proteins
Nitrate Transporters
Nitrates
Plant Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771771, 31401370 and 31571648), Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (17KJB210006), National Barley and Highland Barley Industrial Technology Specially Constructive Foundation of China (CARS-05), and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.