Table_9_Comprehensive in silico Characterization of Universal Stress Proteins in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) With Insight Into Their Stress-Specific Transcriptional Modulation.docx

In a world where climate change is real and its consequences are unprecedented, understanding of the plant adaptive capacity and native stress-responsive machinery is crucial. In recent years, universal stress proteins (USPs) have received much attention in the field of plant science due to their stress-specific transcriptional regulation. This study focuses on the extensive characterization of the USP gene family members in the monocot crop rice (Oryza sativa L. var. japonica). Here, we report a total of 44 USP genes in the rice genome. In silico characterization of these genes showed that domain architecture played a major role in the functional diversification of the USP gene family which holds for all plant USPs. On top of that, a higher conservation of OsUSP members has been exhibited with a monocot genome (Zea mays L.) as compared to a dicot genome (Arabidopsis thaliana L.). Expression profiling of the identified genes led to the discovery of multiple OsUSP genes that showed pronounced transcript alteration under various abiotic stress conditions, indicating their potential role as multi-functional stress-specific modules. Furthermore, expression validation of OsUSP genes using qRT-PCR provided a strong evidence for the utility OsUSP genes in building multi-stress tolerant plants. Altogether, this study provides leads to suitable USP candidates that could be targeted for plant breeding and genetic engineering experiments to develop stress resilient crop species.

在气候变化已然成为现实且其影响史无前例的当下，解析植物的适应能力与内源胁迫响应机制至关重要。近年来，通用胁迫蛋白（Universal Stress Proteins, USPs）因其胁迫特异性转录调控特性，在植物科学领域受到广泛关注。本研究针对单子叶作物水稻（Oryza sativa L. var. japonica）中的USP基因家族成员开展了系统性表征分析。本研究共在水稻基因组中鉴定出44个USP基因。对这些基因的生物信息学分析显示，结构域架构是USP基因家族功能分化的核心驱动因素，这一规律适用于所有植物USP家族成员。此外，相较于双子叶植物基因组（拟南芥，Arabidopsis thaliana L.），水稻USP（OsUSP）家族成员与单子叶植物基因组（玉米，Zea mays L.）的序列保守性显著更高。对已鉴定基因的表达谱分析发现，多个OsUSP基因在多种非生物胁迫条件下呈现显著的转录水平变化，表明其可作为多功能胁迫特异性调控模块发挥作用。此外，通过实时定量逆转录PCR（quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR, qRT-PCR）对OsUSP基因开展表达验证，结果为OsUSP基因在培育多胁迫耐受作物中的应用价值提供了坚实证据。综上，本研究筛选得到了适宜的USP候选基因，可作为植物育种与基因工程实验的靶标，用于培育抗逆作物品种。