Cloning and analysis of the soybean MEKK gene

• Published in: Genetics and molecular research Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 3625 - 3632
• Main Authors: Sha, A-H, Ba, H-P, Shan, Z-H, Chen, H-F, Chen, S-L, Qiu, D-Z, Zhou, X-A, Chen, Y-H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil 17-04-2015
• Subjects: Arabidopsis thaliana; Cloning, Molecular - methods; Droughts; Exons; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - genetics; Glycine max - genetics; Glycine max - metabolism; Introns; MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases - genetics; MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases - metabolism; Nitrogen - pharmacology; Phosphorus - pharmacology; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified
• ISSN: 1676-5680; 1676-5680
• DOI: 10.4238/2015.April.17.12

In this paper, homologous cloning methods were used to clone the soybean GmMEKK gene, which possesses a high degree of similarity to Arabidopsis thaliana AtMEKK1. AtMEKK1 is formed by 595 amino acids, and its secondary structure is formed by 38 irregular curls, 24 α helix, 14 β, with S-TKc domain, transmembrane domain and does not have membrane spanning domain and signal peptide. GmMEKK-GFP subcellular localization fusion and prokaryotic expression vectors were generated and it was revealed that GmMEKK encodes a highly conserved 66.8-kDa nuclear protein that is expressed in soybean roots, stem floral pieces, and leaves. A real-time quantitative PCR analysis of GmMEKK under different abiotic stresses revealed that the expression level of GmMEKK increased under drought and low phosphorus and nitrogen conditions. Taken together, these data suggest that GmMEKK may play an important role in the soybean abiotic stress response.