Cloning and Functional Analysis of <italic>LOC110717159</italic> Gene from <italic>Chenopodium quinoa</italic>

INTRODUCTION: The glycoside hydrolase (GH) gene family plays a crucial role in regulating plant grain size. RATIONALE: To elucidate its biological role during grain filling, we cloned and functionally characterized LOC110717159, a GH gene in quinoa, through bioinformatics analysis, spatiotemporal expression profiling, and heterologous expression experiments in Arabidopsis. RESULTS: LOC110717159 has a 1 023 bp coding sequence (encoding 339 amino acids) in both germplasms, differing by a single nucleotide. Analysis of the ~2 000 bp LOC110717159 promoter identified 119 cis-elements, including three hormone-responsive elements (MeJA, SA, and GA). Phylogenetically, it is closely related to Beta vulgaris, Spinacia oleracea and Amaranthus tricolor. qRT-PCR revealed high expression of LOC110717159 in large-grained quinoa at 21 days after anthesis (21 DAA). Arabidopsis overexpression lines showed significantly reduced 1 000 grain weight (P CONCLUSION: In conclusion, LOC110717159 likely functions as a negative regulator in quinoa grain filling. T3 generation transgenic Arabidopsis lines and seed morphological characteristics. (A) T3 generation transgenic Arabidopsis lines (a–c: Wild-type plants; d–f: AtOE1, AtOE2, and AtOE3) (bars=1 cm); (B) Grain length, width, and 1 000 grain weight (* P≤0.05; ns: No significant difference).