Open AccessCharacterization of the Nitrate Transporter gene family and functional identification of HvNRT2.1 in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)
Author(s) -
Bin Guo,
Ying Li,
Shuang Wang,
Dongfang Li,
Chao Lv,
Ran Xu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0232056
Subject(s) - hordeum vulgare , gene , biology , arabidopsis , gene family , tandem exon duplication , genome , gene duplication , genetics , hordeum , nitrate , botany , poaceae , mutant , ecology
Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is the efficiency with which plants acquire and use nitrogen. Plants have high-affinity nitrate transport systems, which involve certain nitrate transporter (NRT) genes. However, limited data are available on the contribution of the NRT2/3 gene family in barley nitrate transport. In the present study, ten putative NRT2 and three putative NRT3 genes were identified using bioinformatics methods. All the HvNRT2/3 genes were located on chromosomes 3H, 5H, 6H or 7H. Remarkably, the presence of tandem repeats indicated that duplication events contributed to the expansion of the NRT2 gene family in barley. In addition, the HvNRT2/3 genes displayed various expression patterns at selected developmental stages and were induced in the roots by both low and high nitrogen levels. Furthermore, the overexpression of HvNRT2 . 1 improved the yield related traits in Arabidopsis . Taken together, the data generated in the present study will be useful for genome-wide analyses to determine the precise role of the HvNRT2/3 genes during barley development, with the ultimate goal of improving NUE and crop production.