Abstract

Correlation between the Chlorophyll Contents and duf538 Gene Expression Level in Celosia cristata

Author(s): Ashraf Gholizadeh

Proteins containing domain of unknown function 538 (DUF538) were frequently detected as stress-induced elements in plants. They were very recently suggested as a group of chlorophyll binding proteins and hydrolytic enzymes that most possibly degrade chlorophyll molecules. To enhance our information in plant system of DUF538 protein superfamily, our efforts were made to unravel the relative expression patterns of Celosia DUF538 transcript using real time reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with template materials collected from the drought stressed leaves having different scores of chlorosis. The results indicated that duf538 transcript is consistently detectable in all tissues except for the highly chlorotic died samples. In comparison with non-stressed green tissues, the expression level of duf538 gene was detected up to 4.3 folds increase in stressed yellow color tissues. The results suggested the duf538 gene product may be induced as hydrolytic enzyme to degrade chlorophyll molecules as defense response of drought stress challenged plants.