Overexpression of LaGRAS enhances phosphorus acquisition via increased root growth of phosphorus‐deficient white lupin

Abstract

The GRAS transcription factors play an indispensable role in plant growth and responses to environmental stresses. The GRAS gene family has extensively been explored in various plant species; however, the comprehensive investigation of GRAS genes in white lupin remains insufficient. In this study, bioinformatics analysis of white lupin genome revealed 51 LaGRAS genes distributed into 10 distinct phylogenetic clades. Gene structure analyses revealed that LaGRAS proteins were considerably conserved among the same subfamilies. Notably, 25 segmental duplications and a single tandem duplication showed that segmental duplication was the major driving force for the expansion of GRAS genes in white lupin. Moreover, LaGRAS genes exhibited preferential expression in young cluster root and mature cluster roots and may play key roles in nutrient acquisition, particularly phosphorus (P). To validate this, RT‐qPCR analysis of white lupin plants grown under +P (normal P) and −P (P deficiency) conditions elucidated significant differences in the transcript level of GRAS genes. Among them, LaGRAS38 and LaGRAS39 were identified as potential candidates with induced expression in MCR under −P. Additionally, white lupin transgenic hairy root overexpressing OE‐LaGRAS38 and OE‐LaGRAS39 showed increased root growth, and P concentration in root and leaf compared to those with empty vector control, suggesting their role in P acquisition. We believe this comprehensive analysis of GRAS members in white lupin is a first step in exploring their role in the regulation of root growth, tissue development, and ultimately improving P use efficiency in legume crops under natural environments.

Genome-Wide Investigation of Class III Peroxidase Genes in Brassica napus Reveals Their Responsiveness to Abiotic Stresses

“…We analyzed the duplication events of the BnaPOD gene family using MCScanX (https://github.com/wyp1125/MCScanX, accessed on 26 August 2023), and visualized them in Circos, as described by Waseem et al [47]. Furthermore, the Ka and Ks substitutions between the gene pairs were also calculated as described by Aslam et al [48]. The divergence time (T, MYA; millions of years ago) was calculated as follows: T = Ks/2R (where R = 1.5 × 10 −8 and is synonymous with the number of substitutions per site per year) [49].…”

Insights into the Pathogenic Mechanisms and the Control Strat-Egies of Anthracnose in Lupins – A Comprehensive Review

“…Genetic engineering in lupins is challenging due to the crop's recalcitrance to biotechnological methods [78,79]. While genetic transformation has shown some success in all domesticated lupin species, including L. angustifolius [80][81][82], L. luteus [83,84], L. mutabilis [85,86], and more recently in L. albus [79,[87][88][89], efficiency rates remain low. Recently, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was implemented to functionally validate the multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) and aluminum-activated malate transporter (ALMT) genes in white lupin [90,91].…”