Molecular characterization of calcium transport elements in bread wheat Triticum aestivum L

Abstract

Calcium (Ca2+) is known to play critical roles in various phenomenon in plants including growth, development, signal transduction, and in other physiological processes as well. There are three categories of Ca2+ transport elements i.e. antiporters (Ca2+ /cation antiporter), pumps (P-type II Ca2+ATPase), and Ca2+ channels (two pore channels). In the present study a total of 34 Ca2+/cation antiporter, 42 P-type II Ca2+ATPase, and 6 two pore channel proteins were identified in the genome of T. aestivum. Expression analyses revealed the role of these genes during growth and development. Differential expression during both biotic and abiotic stress conditions highlighted their role in stress response. TaNCL2-A and TaNCL2-B were functionally validated for their role in abiotic stress tolerance in both E. coli and yeast. Overall, this study revealed the role of Ca2+ transport elements in T. aestivum. newline