title: Structural and transcriptional characterization of a novel member of the soybean urease gene family.
abstract: In plants, ureases have been related to urea degradation, to defense against pathogenic fungi and phytophagous insects, and to the soybean-Bradyrhizobium japonicum symbiosis. Two urease isoforms have been described for soybean: the embryo-specific, encoded by Eu1 gene, and the ubiquitous urease, encoded by Eu4. A third urease-encoding locus exists in the completed soybean genome. The gene was designated Eu5 and the putative product of its ORF as SBU-III. Phylogenetic analysis shows that 41 plant, moss and algal ureases have diverged from a common ancestor protein, but ureases from monocots, eudicots and ancient species have evolved independently. Genomes of ancient organisms present a single urease-encoding gene and urease-encoding gene duplication has occurred independently along the evolution of some eudicot species. SBU-III has a shorter amino acid sequence, since many gaps are found when compared to other sequences. A mutation in a highly conserved amino acid residue suggests absence of ureolytic activity, but the overall protein architecture remains very similar to the other ureases. The expression profile of urease-encoding genes in different organs and developmental stages was determined by RT-qPCR. Eu5 transcripts were detected in seeds one day after dormancy break, roots of young plants and embryos of developing seeds. Eu1 and Eu4 transcripts were found in all analyzed organs, but Eu4 expression was more prominent in seeds one day after dormancy break whereas Eu1 predominated in developing seeds. The evidence suggests that SBU-III may not be involved in nitrogen availability to plants, but it could be involved in other biological role(s).
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: beatriz.strohm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wiebke-Strohm
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular, Centro de Biotecnologia, UFRGS, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: rodrigobraun@cbiot.ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ligabue-Braun
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: cilianare@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ciliana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rechenmacher
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: luisaabruzzi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Luisa Abruzzi
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: De Oliveira-Busatto
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular, Centro de Biotecnologia, UFRGS, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Instituto do Cérebro, Pontifícia Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Av. Ipiranga 6690, 90610-000, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Electronic address: ccarlini@ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: Célia Regina
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Carlini
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: maria.zanettini@ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: Maria Helena
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bodanese-Zanettini
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D013025:Glycine max / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D014510:Urease / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D014510:Urease
keywords: 3D-structure; Expression profile; Glycine max; Urea amidohydrolase; Urease