Abstract:
We cloned the
QaGDU3 gene from
Quercus aquifolioides Rehd. et Wils. and obtained transgenic
Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. using ligation-independent cloning (LIC) and floral dipping transformation. We evaluated
QaGDU3 expression and analyzed phenotypic changes in transgenic plants using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and image analysis, respectively. We investigated the structure, sequence divergence, and evolutionary relationship of QaGDU3 with related species. Structural analysis showed that QaGDU3 is an acidic and unstable hydrophilic transmembrane protein. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that GDU3 may only be present in seed plants. The qRT-PCR results showed that overexpression of the
QaGDU3 gene in transgenic plants activated the expression of the
AtPR1 (
PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENE 1),
AtACD6 (
ACCELERATED CELL DEATH 6),
AtCBP60g (
CAM-BINDING PROTEIN 60-LIKE g),
and AtPAD4 (
PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT 4) genes involved in the salicylic acid (SA) pathway. Furthermore, the rosette size of transgenic
A. thaliana decreased with the increase in
QaGDU3 expression. These data suggest that GDU3 may be a seed plant-specific amino acid transporter and that overexpression of
QaGDU3 can affect plant growth and development.