Ammonium Transporter 1 () Gene Family in Pomegranate: Genome-Wide Analysis and Expression Profiles in Response to Salt Stress.

Understanding the ammonium (NH) uptake and transport systems, particularly genes, is important for plant growth and defense. However, there is a lack of research on identifying and analyzing genes in pomegranate, emphasizing the need for further investigation in this area. Five genes ( to ) were identified, all of which contain the PF00909 domain, a feature of ammonium transporters. Various characteristics of these genes, including gene length, coding sequence length, and chromosomal locations, were examined. This study evaluated the isoelectric point, hydropathicity, conserved domains, motifs, and synteny of the PgAMT1 proteins. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the homology of genes with previously reported in Arabidopsis and tomato. The tissue-specific expression analysis of genes revealed distinct patterns: and were predominantly expressed in flowers, exhibited notable expression in roots, leaves, and flowers, was primarily expressed in leaf tissue, while the expression of was detected in both leaves and roots. The impact of salt-induced stress on gene expression was also examined, revealing that , , and expression is reduced under increased salt stress. These expression modifications can help regulate NH+ assimilation in conditions of elevated salinity, maintaining cellular homeostasis and ion balance. This study contributes to the comprehensive identification of the s gene family in pomegranate; however, further research on the functional characterization of the identified s is needed.