AlGLY I gene implicated in salt stress response from halophyte Aeluropus littoralis

Aeluropus littoralis (Gouan) Parlatore is a rhizomatous perennial monocotyledonous halophyte that withstands environmental stresses. The role of the glyoxalase system, which plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolic process and compatible solutes production, in salt tolerance of A. littoralis was proved to be extremely momentous. Thus in the present study, a GLY I gene was isolated and sequenced from this plant (revealing the partial sequence of AlGLY I), and its expression profiling has been performed in response to salinity and recovery conditions, by fluorescent real-time PCR (qPCR). Experimental samples were prepared separately from shoot and root tissues after 600 mM NaCl treatment, as well as after stress removing. Maximum mRNA expression of GLY I, which was observed after 6 h salt stress in shoot tissue, was 5.9-fold higher compared to the control. Characterization of the partial sequence of AlGLY I gene, containing 896 bp, using publicly available databases demonstrated that the deduced transcripts, encoding 297 amino acids with a 32.5869 kD molecular mass including 5.19 isoelectric points, shared a high homology (~90%) to Oryza sativa GLY I protein. Setaria italica, Sorghum bicolor, Brachypodium distachyon, Triticum aestivum, and Hordeum vulgare with 86, 85, 84, 83 and 78%, respectively, also revealed high homology. The promoter analysis also showed the presence of various stress related CREs, which probably activate the AlGLY I gene transcription under abiotic stress conditions. These results suggested that AlGLY I may be a potentially useful candidate gene for engineering salinity tolerance in cultivated plants.