Genome-wide identification, characterization and expression analysis of the Bcl-2 associated athanogene (BAG) gene family inPhyscomitrium patens

Abstract

The Bcl-2-associated athanogene (BAG) family is an evolutionarily conserved, multifunctional group of co-chaperones regulators that modulate a number of diverse processes. Plant BAG genes were identified to play an extensive role in processes of programmed cell death (PCD) ranging from growth and development to stress responses. In this study, we identified BAG genes from different photosynthetic organisms in order to gather evolutionary insights on these proteins followed by an in silico characterization of the BAG family in the bryophyte Physcomitrium patens. Ten putative PpBAGs harbouring a characteristic BAG domain were grouped into two subfamilies based on the presence of additional conserved domains and phylogenetic distances. Group I consisted of PpBAG4 and PpBAG5, containing an additional ubiquitin-like domain, and PpBAG10 with only the BAG domain. Group II consisted of PpBAG1-3 and PpBAG6-9, containing a calmodulin-binding IQ motif, a novel feature associated with plant BAG proteins. Interestingly, PpBAG9 exhibits an EF-Hand domain, not reported to date in this class of proteins. Caspase cleavage sites in PpBAG1, PpBAG3, PpBAG4-5 and PpBAG9 were predicted. In silico analysis of BAG genes revealed the presence of stress responsive elements, and a stress-regulated expression pattern which appears to be dependent on specifically organized promoter regulatory elements. According to our analyses, the present data suggest that some members of Physcomitrium patens BAG gene family may play a role in heat responses, autophagy, and pathogen immunity. Further studies are required to unveil the role of specific members of this gene family in PCD and stress responses in Physcomitrium patens.

The BAG2 and BAG6 Genes Are Involved in Multiple Abiotic Stress Tolerances in Arabidopsis Thaliana

“…The BAG proteins are evolutionarily conserved with homologs present in fungi, plants and animals [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. In plants, BAG proteins perform functions in apoptosis, senescence, and responses to biotic and abiotic stress [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

“…Seven BAG genes were identified in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), ranging from BAG1 to BAG7 [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. The AtBAG1–4 proteins contain a BAG domain and an UBL domain, whereas the AtBAG5–7 proteins contain an IQ motif, which preferentially binds to Ca 2+ -free calmodulin (CaM), in addition to a BAG domain [ 4 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 15 ]. Phylogenetic analysis by MEGA7 software clearly revealed that the plant BAG family proteins can be divided into two subgroups: Group I including the BAG1-4 proteins, and Group II including the BAG5-7 proteins ( Figure S1 ).…”

Genome‐wide identification studies – A primer to explore new genes in plant species

“…For instance, a network demonstrates the functionality or reveals structural information and also its representation either by node-link layout or a matrix-based network. Node-link diagrams are the most common way to display a network (Castro et al 2020;Jia et al 2020). These are beneficial as they show the reader the relationship between immediate and non-immediate members.…”

“…Node‐link diagrams are the most common way to display a network (Castro et al . 2020; Jia et al . 2020).…”