Expression Analysis of Putative Genes Responsible for High Iron Sequestration in Different Wheats

Recently a project was started at Molecular Cytogenetics Laboratory, G. B. Pant University, Pantnagar, India to study the role of putative genes involved in the uptake, transport and regulation of iron homeostasis in Aegilops kotschyi, Chinese spring and wheat-Aegilops kotschyi disomic substitution/addition derivative lines. The relative expression of 15 putative genes was studied in iron deficient and iron sufficient roots and compared across all these selected genotypes at different time intervals of iron deficiency treatment in hydroponic conditions. As per the real-time RT-PCR analysis 5 out of the 15 putative genes namely nas, naat, sams, ids3, idi4 showed very high expression in iron deficient roots as compared to iron sufficient. The in-silico approach was also used to find out the putative orthologues of the above 5 Hordeum vulgare genes in wheat, to map these orthologues on wheat chromosomes and to study the simulated proteins of these orthologues in wheat using the IWGSC survey sequence available on URGI database. The in silico analysis confirmed the presence of orthologues of the above 5 genes in wheat genome and localized nas on group 6 chromosomes, naat on group 1 chromosomes, sams on group 6 chromosome, ids3 on chromosome 7A and idi4 on group 5 chromosomes. Further analysis to study the simulated proteins of these genes is being done and the results will be presented during the conference. The present study may lay down the foundation for the genetic manipulation of these genes through genetic engineering approaches and to produce bio-fortified hexaploid wheat for iron.