Characters of the family in wheat and function in salt stress tolerance.

encodes the last key glucuronosyltransferase for ionic stress sensor glycosyl inositol phosphoryl-ceramide (GIPCs) biosynthesis in , which indicates that the gene family play important role in plant tolerance to salt stress. However, the isolation and function of in staple crops have not been reported and the downstream targets of in salt stress tolerance signalling pathway are not clear. In this study, we identified 110 genes in wheat which were classified into five clades and they differed in gene structure, protein length, conserved motifs and expression profiles in different tissues and under salt stress. was selected for further functional study in response to salt stress. was rapidly induced by NaCl treatment. The 35S:: construction showed the cell nucleus and cytoplasm location in wheat protoplast. over-expressing seedlings formed longer primary roots and more lateral roots than the wild type ones under 50 mM NaCl treatment. The over-expressing had higher expression levels of , but lower expression levels of and genes than the wild type. Also, the transgenic plants had higher SOD activity and lower MDA content than the wild seedling under salt stress. These results may indicate that increases salt stress tolerance through decreasing Na loading from the xylem parenchyma cells to the xylem via and , hence lowering root-to-shoot delivery of Na? and superior antioxidant ability. All these results lay a foundation for further functional study of in wheat.