Heavy-metal-associated (HMA) isoprenylated plant proteins (HIPPs) only exist in vascular plants. They play important roles in responses to biotic/abiotic stresses, heavy-metal homeostasis, and detoxification. However, research on the distribution, diversification, and function of HIPPs in Triticeae species is limited. In this study, a total of 278 HIPPs were identified from a database from five Triticeae species, and 13 were cloned from Haynaldia villosa. These genes were classified into five groups by phylogenetic analysis. Most HIPPs had one HMA domain, while 51 from Clade I had two, and all HIPPs had good collinear relationships between species or subgenomes. In silico expression profiling revealed that 44 of the 114 wheat HIPPs were dominantly expressed in roots, 43 were upregulated under biotic stresses, and 29 were upregulated upon drought or heat treatment. Subcellular localization analysis of the cloned HIPPs from H. villosa showed that they were expressed on the plasma membrane. HIPP1-V was upregulated in H. villosa after Cd treatment, and transgenic wheat plants overexpressing HIPP1-V showed enhanced Cd tolerance, as shown by the recovery of seed-germination and root-growth inhibition by supplementary Cd. This research provides a genome-wide overview of the Triticeae HIPP genes and proved that HIPP1-V positively regulates Cd tolerance in common wheat.
Keywords: Cd tolerance; HIPP; Haynaldia villosa L.; gene family; subcellular localization.