Genome-wide Characterization and Expression Profiling of Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase Genes from Maize

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the only rate-limiting step in the pathway of plant oil (TAG) biosynthesis and involves in plant development. In this study, five DGAT family members were identified from maize genome database. Phylogenetic analysis classified the ZmDGATs into type-I, II and III clusters, respectively. The conserved functional domain analysis revealed that the proteins encoded by ZmDGAT1s contained the conserved MBOAT domains, while two ZmDGAT2s encoding proteins harbored the LPLAT domains. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that ZmDGATs exhibited very high relative expression in the developing seeds, especially at the early stage of seed development. Under various abiotic stress conditions, differential responses of ZmDGATs were observed. An overall significant induction of ZmDGATs under cold stress in leaves, and a quick and strong response to osmotic stresses in roots were highlighted. This study provides useful information for understanding the roles of DGATs in oil accumulation and stress responses in higher plants.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author