Genome-wide Analysis of Stress Associated Protein (SAP) genes in Potato (Solanum tuberosum) linked with abiotic stress

Abstract

Stress-associated proteins (SAPs) belong to a class of Zinc Finger Proteins containing the A20/AN1 domain which are regulators of plant stress responses. SAP genes have already been identified in many plant species but limited information is available in potato. Potato is one of the important crops and its growth is highly affected by abiotic stress factors including drought and salinity. In this study genome-wide analysis was done for characterization of SAP gene family in potato. This investigation indicated 17 (SAP) genes involved in the regulation of abiotic stress have been present in the genome of Solanum tubersosum. These StSAP genes show the prevalence of A20, AN1, and C2H2 protein domains belonging to Zinc Finger proteins in their protein sequences. Five groups of StSAP proteins were classified along with their sequence homology with Arabidopsis thaliana and Solanum lycpersicum through a phylogenetic relationship. The genomic distribution of 17 StSAP genes depicting chromosomal localization along their exon and intron patterns has been determined through structural analysis of SAP genes. The majority of genes belonging to StSAP were intron less reflecting consistent domain patterns of A20 and AN1 collectively, except StSAP5. Single AN1 domains, AN1-AN1 domains, and AN1-AN1-C2H2 domains containing StSAP proteins have intronic genes. Five gene duplications were reported in the potato genome for StSAP genes, whereas several syntenic regions were visualized between potato, arabidopsis, and tomato genomes. Gene ontology for StSAP proteins predicted their molecular function in Zinc ion binding and DNA binding Putative cis-acting elements depicted through promoter analysis further identified the StSAP gene's involvement in regulating many abiotic stresses. Thus, bioinformatics analysis of SAP genes in the potato has comprehended their role under abiotic stress conditions