Insilco gene characterisation and Promoter analysis of drought inducible MYB gene from Eleucine coracana

Abstract

Drought is a major abiotic factor that limits agricultural crop production and productivity. Plants experience drought stress either due to limited water supply to roots or when the transpiration rate becomes very high. These two conditions often coincide under arid and semi-arid climates. Plants such as millets, sorghum and maize which are native to such climate have acclimatized themselves in such a way that they can survive better. Finger millet is most important among them as it grows widely and is staple food of South Africa and many parts of Asia. It is nutritionally rich, contain high amount of calcium and good for diabetic patient due to low glycaemic index. Therefore, finger millet can be taken as a model plant for investigating the pathway underlying drought tolerance in plants. Present study was focussed on isolation of full length gene corresponding to the online publically available EcMYB gene partial transcript from the UGENE transcriptome data of Eleusine coracana and open reading frame was deduced from it. The protein BLAST results and the presence of DNA binding domain and helix turn helix domain ensured that the isolated full transcript was MYB gene from Eleusine coracana. In order to predict their ABA responses the ABRE (ABA Responsive Elements) was predicted in the promoter of MYB gene from Oryza sativa that was homologous to MYB gene in Finger millet with more than 80% identity. Thus EcMYB follows ABA dependent signalling pathways and accumulation of ABA in response to several abiotic stress is responsible for up and down regulation of several gene especially transcription factors which provide drought tolerance to plants.