Characterization and Expression Analysis of Common Bean during Development and Cold Stress Response.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are important regulators of gene transcription thus controlling multiple cellular processes. Despite its essential role in plants, is yet to be validated in common bean. In this study, we show that is involved in plant development and stress response. Differential expression of was determined in various tissues and the expression was seen to be upregulated with plant age (seedling < flowering < maturity). Higher expression was observed in flowers and pods than in stem, leaf, and root. Upregulation of gene during cold stress implies its prominent role in abiotic stress. Furthermore, the gene was isolated from three common bean genotypes and sequence analyses revealed homology with functionally characterized homologs in model species. The 53 kDa translated product was detected using an specific antibody and recombinant protein overexpressed in showed HDAC activity . To our knowledge, this is the first report in the agriculturally important crop common bean describing the functional characterization and biological role of .