Functional Analysis and Marker Development of Gene in Common Wheat ( L.).

Calreticulin (CRT), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized Ca-binding/buffering protein, is highly conserved and extensively expressed in animal and plant cells. To understand the function of CRTs in wheat ( L.), particularly their roles in stress tolerance, we cloned the full-length genomic sequence of the isoform from D genome of common hexaploid wheat, and characterized its function by transgenic system. exhibited different expression patterns in wheat seedling under different abiotic stresses. Transgenic plants overexpressing ORF of displayed more tolerance to drought, cold, salt, mannitol, and other abiotic stresses at both seed germination and seedling stages, compared with the wild-type controls. Furthermore, DNA polymorphism analysis and gene mapping were employed to develop the functional markers of this gene for marker-assistant selection in wheat breeding program. One SNP, S440 (T→C) was detected at the locus by genotyping a wheat recombinant inbred line (RIL) population (114 lines) developed from Opata 85 × W7984. The was then fine mapped between markers and on chromosome 3DL, corresponding to genetic distances of 3.5 and 4.4 cM, respectively, using the RIL population and Chinese Spring nulli-tetrasomic lines. Finally, the genome-specific and allele-specific markers were developed for the gene. These findings indicate that function importantly in plant stress responses, providing a gene target for genetic engineering to increase plant stress tolerance and the functional markers of for marker-assistant selection in wheat breeding.