title: Comprehensive analysis of plant rapid alkalization factor (RALF) genes.
abstract: Receptor mediated signal carriers play a critical role in the regulation of plant defense and development. Rapid alkalization factor (RALF) proteins potentially comprise important signaling components which may have a key role in plant biology. The RALF gene family contains large number of genes in several plant species, however, only a few RALF genes have been characterized to date. In this study, an extensive database search identified 39, 43, 34 and 18 RALF genes in Arabidopsis, rice, maize and soybean, respectively. These RALF genes were found to be highly conserved across the 4 plant species. A comprehensive analysis including the chromosomal location, gene structure, subcellular location, conserved motifs, protein structure, protein-ligand interaction and promoter analysis was performed. RALF genes from four plant species were divided into 7 groups based on phylogenetic analysis. In silico expression analysis of these genes, using microarray and EST data, revealed that these genes exhibit a variety of expression patterns. Furthermore, RALF genes showed distinct expression patterns of transcript accumulation in vivo following nitrosative and oxidative stresses in Arabidopsis. Predicted interaction between RALF and heme ligand also showed that RALF proteins may contribute towards transporting or scavenging oxygen moieties. This suggests a possible role for RALF genes during changes in cellular redox status. Collectively, our data provides a valuable resource to prime future research in the role of RALF genes in plant growth and development.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: arti.abtc@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Arti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea; Department of Agriculture, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, Pakistan. Electronic address: adilhussain@awkum.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Adil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: mun0301@naver.com.
authors.forename: Bong-Gyu
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Mun
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: mimranbot@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Qari Muhammad
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Imran
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: noorfalak.pk@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Noreen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Falak
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: uk0gam@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sang-Uk
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: wodud9749@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Jae Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticultural Science, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology (GNTech), Jinju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: jkhong@gntech.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jeum Kyu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Electronic address: gloake@staffmail.ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Gary John
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Loake
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan. Electronic address: asadjp2005@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Asad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: bwyun@knu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Byung-Wook
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Yun
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006418:Heme / Q000378:metabolism; D008024:Ligands; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs / Q000235:genetics; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D000072417:Protein Domains; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D010940:Plant Proteins; D006418:Heme
keywords: Arabidopsis; Maize; Rapid alkalization factor; Rice; Soybean