Genome-wide identification and analysis of expression profiles of maize mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase

PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e57714. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057714. Epub 2013 Feb 27.

Abstract

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are highly conserved signal transduction model in animals, yeast and plants. Plant MAPK cascades have been implicated in development and stress responses. Although MAPKKKs have been investigated in several plant species including Arabidopsis and rice, no systematic analysis has been conducted in maize. In this study, we performed a bioinformatics analysis of the entire maize genome and identified 74 MAPKKK genes. Phylogenetic analyses of MAPKKKs from maize, rice and Arabidopsis have classified them into three subgroups, which included Raf, ZIK and MEKK. Evolutionary relationships within subfamilies were also supported by exon-intron organizations and the conserved protein motifs. Further expression analysis of the MAPKKKs in microarray databases revealed that MAPKKKs were involved in important signaling pathways in maize different organs and developmental stages. Our genomics analysis of maize MAPKKK genes provides important information for evolutionary and functional characterization of this family in maize.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Arabidopsis / enzymology
  • Chromosomes, Plant / genetics
  • Conserved Sequence / genetics
  • Exons / genetics
  • Gene Duplication / genetics
  • Gene Expression Profiling*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant*
  • Genes, Plant / genetics
  • Genome, Plant / genetics*
  • Introns / genetics
  • MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases / chemistry
  • MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases / genetics*
  • MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases / metabolism
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Multigene Family / genetics
  • Organ Specificity / genetics
  • Oryza / enzymology
  • Phylogeny
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Zea mays / enzymology*
  • Zea mays / genetics*
  • Zea mays / growth & development

Substances

  • MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Grants from the Nation Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant numbers 31071337, 31271633]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.