Characterization of the glutathione S-transferase gene family through ESTs and expression analyses within common and pigmented cultivars of Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck.
BACKGROUND
Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) represent a ubiquitous gene family encoding detoxification enzymes able to recognize reactive electrophilic xenobiotic molecules as well as compounds of endogenous origin. Anthocyanin pigments require GSTs for their transport into the vacuole since their cytoplasmic retention is toxic to the cell. Anthocyanin accumulation in Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck fruit flesh determines different phenotypes affecting the typical pigmentation of Sicilian blood oranges. In this paper we describe: i) the characterization of the GST gene family in C. sinensis through a systematic EST analysis; ii) the validation of the EST assembly by exploiting the genome sequences of C. sinensis and C. clementina and their genome annotations; iii) GST gene expression profiling in six tissues/organs and in two different sweet orange cultivars, Cadenera (common) and Moro (pigmented).


RESULTS
We identified 61 GST transcripts, described the full- or partial-length nature of the sequences and assigned to each sequence the GST class membership exploiting a comparative approach and the classification scheme proposed for plant species. A total of 23 full-length sequences were defined. Fifty-four of the 61 transcripts were successfully aligned to the C. sinensis and C. clementina genomes. Tissue specific expression profiling demonstrated that the expression of some GST transcripts was 'tissue-affected' and cultivar specific. A comparative analysis of C. sinensis GSTs with those from other plant species was also considered. Data from the current analysis are accessible at http://biosrv.cab.unina.it/citrusGST/, with the aim to provide a reference resource for C. sinensis GSTs.


CONCLUSIONS
This study aimed at the characterization of the GST gene family in C. sinensis. Based on expression patterns from two different cultivars and on sequence-comparative analyses, we also highlighted that two sequences, a Phi class GST and a Mapeg class GST, could be involved in the conjugation of anthocyanin pigments and in their transport into the vacuole, specifically in fruit flesh of the pigmented cultivar.
Concetta
C
Licciardello
Nunzio
N
D'Agostino
Alessandra
A
Traini
Giuseppe Reforgiato
GR
Recupero
Luigi
L
Frusciante
Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Via Università, 100, 80055 Portici, Naples, Italy. chiusano@unina.it.
Maria Luisa
ML
Chiusano
D032084:Citrus sinensis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D010940:Plant Proteins; D005982:Glutathione Transferase