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Superoxide dismutase (SOD) family in durum wheat: promising candidates for improving crop resilience

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Abstract

The SOD family has been extensively analyzed at genome wide level in several crops. However, little is known about this family in durum wheat. In this study, a total of 14 TdSOD genes were identified in whole durum wheat genome including 8 TdCu-ZnSODs, 2 TdMnSODs, and 4 TdFeSODs. In silico analysis evinced that TdSOD family members displayed a closer evolutionary relationship, similar gene structure and protein features with their homologs from other plant species. Furthermore, the analysis of their promoter regions revealed the presence of a great number of cis-regulatory elements related to plant development, abiotic and biotic stresses, phytohormones, and several potential binding sites for transcription factors. Interestingly, 3D structure analysis revealed that TdCu-ZnSOD2A-2 and TdCu-ZnSOD2B-2, belonging to the Cu–Zn group, were modeled as copper chaperone for SOD like their homologs from rice and Arabidopsis. The expression profile of eight TdSOD candidate genes was investigated under salt, drought, cold, and ABA treatments. Notably, TdCu-ZnSOD2A-1, TdFeSOD4A-1, and TdFeSOD7A-1 were significantly up-regulated under all stress treatments. On the other hand, TdCu-ZnSOD7B and TdMnSOD2B were strongly expressed in roots and leaves under cold stress and TdCu-ZnSOD2B-2 was particularly up-regulated in leaves under ABA treatment. Ultimately, these findings provide valuable information for the identification of attractive candidate genes to improve wheat resilience.

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Funding

This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Tunisia (ContratProgramme 2019–2022).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology and Plant Improvement Laboratory, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, B.P “1177” 3018, Sfax, Tunisia

    Sana Tounsi, Faiçal Brini & Mohamed Najib Saïdi

  2. Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology Enzymatic and Biomolecules, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, P.O Box 1177, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia

    Sonia Jemli

  3. Biology Department, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Sonia Jemli

  4. Laboratory of Legumes and Sustainable Agrosystem (L2AD), Center of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria, BP901, 2050, Hammam‑Lif, Tunisia

    Kaouthar Feki

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  1. Sana Tounsi
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  4. Faiçal Brini
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  5. Mohamed Najib Saïdi
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Contributions

ST conceived and designed the research. ST, MNS, and SJ performed the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. KF and FB reviewed the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sana Tounsi or Faiçal Brini.

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Tounsi, S., Jemli, S., Feki, K. et al. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) family in durum wheat: promising candidates for improving crop resilience. Protoplasma 260, 145–158 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-022-01767-w

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