Evolutionary analysis of the OSCA gene family in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L) and expression analysis under NaCl stress

Abstract

Hyperosmolality-gated calcium-permeable channels (OSCA) are Ca2 + nonselective cation channels that contain the calcium-dependent DUF221 domain, which plays an important role in plant response to stress and growth. However, the OSCA gene has not been fully identified and analyzed in sunflowers. In this study, we comprehensively analyzed the number, structure, collinearity, and phylogeny of the OSCA gene family in the sunflower, six Compositae species (Arctium lappa, Chrysanthemum morifolium, Cichorium endivia, Cichorium intybus, Lactuca sativa var. Angustata, and Carthamus tinctorius), and six other plants (soybean, Arabidopsis thaliana, rice, grape, and maize). The expression of the sunflower OSCA gene in nine different tissues, six different hormones, and NaCl stress conditions were analyzed based on transcriptome data and qRT–PCR. A total of 15 OSCA proteins, distributed on 10 chromosomes, were identified in the sunflower, and all of them were located in the endoplasmic reticulum. Using the phylogenetic tree, collinearity, gene structure, and motif analysis of the six Compositae species and six other plants, we found that the sunflower OSCA protein had only three subfamilies and lacked the Group 4 subfamily, which is conserved in the evolution of Compositae and subject to purification selection. The OSCA gene structure and motif analysis of the sunflower and six Compositae showed that there was a positive correlation between the number of motifs of most genes and the length of the gene, different subfamilies had different motifs, and the Group 4 subfamily had the smallest number of genes and the simplest gene structure. RNA-seq and qRT–PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of most OSCA genes in the sunflower changed to varying degrees under salt stress, and HaOSCA2.6 and HaOSCA3.1 were the most important in the sunflower’s response to salt stress. The coexpression network of the sunflower genes under salt stress was constructed based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). In conclusion, our findings suggest that the OSCA gene family is conserved during the sunflower’s evolution and plays an important role in salt tolerance. These results will deepen our understanding of the evolutionary relationship of the sunflower OSCA gene family and provide a basis for their functional studies under salt stress.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) gene family in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and their expression profiles in response to multiple abiotic stresses

“…Following the completion of the sunflower ( H . annuus ) whole genome sequencing, several important gene families have been identified at genome level, including the PM H + -ATPase gene family [ 70 ], WRKY [ 71 ], MAPK [ 72 ], OSCA [ 73 ], WSD [ 74 ], VQ [ 75 ], Threlix transcription factor [ 76 ], NBS-LRR [ 77 ], NAC-TF [ 78 ]. In our analysis, we identified a total of 121 genes in sunflower, which was higher than Arabidopsis (80) [ 10 ], cucumber (56) [ 56 ], rice (78) [ 10 ], and maize (97) [ 79 ].…”

Cytological Applications of the Vacuolization Phenomenon as a Means of Determining Saline Cytotoxicity

“…A close link between vacuolization and chromosomal aberrations has also been observed. Research indicates that the vacuolization phenomenon is influenced by the endoplasmic reticulum in the sunflower, where the presence of salt stress tolerance expression genes is also localized [48].…”

Genome-wide investigation and expression analysis of OSCA gene family in response to abiotic stress in alfalfa

“…As the only osmoreceptors in plants, OSCAs are capable of responding to abiotic stress, such as salt and drought, and have been confirmed in a variety of crops, such as rice (Li et al, 2015), sunflower (Shan et al, 2023), cucumber (Yang et al, 2022), soybean (Liu et al, 2022) and maize (Cao et al, 2020). In Arabidopsis, OSCA1 functions as an osmotic sensing receptor that mediates the elevation of Ca 2+ concentration in response to osmotic stress (Liu et al, 2018b).…”