title: Isolation and characterization of the brassinosteroid receptor gene (GmBRI1) from Glycine max.
abstract: Brassinosteroids (BRs) constitute a group of steroidal phytohormones that contribute to a wide range of plant growth and development functions. The genetic modulation of BR receptor genes, which play major roles in the BR signaling pathway, can create semi-dwarf plants that have great advantages in crop production. In this study, a brassinosteroid insensitive gene homologous with AtBRI1 and other BRIs was isolated from Glycine max and designated as GmBRI1. A bioinformatic analysis revealed that GmBRI1 shares a conserved kinase domain and 25 tandem leucine-rich repeats (LRRs) that are characteristic of a BR receptor for BR reception and reaction and bear a striking similarity in protein tertiary structure to AtBRI1. GmBRI1 transcripts were more abundant in soybean hypocotyls and could be upregulated in response to exogenous BR treatment. The transformation of GmBRI1 into the Arabidopsis dwarf mutant bri1-5 restored the phenotype, especially regarding pod size and plant height. Additionally, this complementation is a consequence of a restored BR signaling pathway demonstrated in the light/dark analysis, root inhibition assay and BR-response gene expression. Therefore, GmBRI1 functions as a BR receptor to alter BR-mediated signaling and is valuable for improving plant architecture and enhancing the yield of soybean.
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, Jilin, China. wangmiao2009@yeah.net.
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China. sunshi73@163.com.
authors.forename: Shi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China. wucunxiang@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Cunxiang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China. hantianfu@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Tianfu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, Jilin, China. qywang@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qingyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D060406:Brassinosteroids / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D018546:Hypocotyl / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013025:Glycine max / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D060406:Brassinosteroids; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases