biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 2016, 60:435-442 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0613-7

Banana MaEF1A facilitates plant growth and development

J.-H. Liu^1,2, Y.-C. Li^1,2, J. Zhang^1,2, P.-Z. Gao⁴, A.-B. Wang³, N. Zhang^1,2, B.-Y. Xu^1,2,*, Z.-Q. Jin^1,2,3,*

¹ Key Laboratory of Tropical Crop Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, P.R. China

² Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, P.R. China

³ Haikou Experimental Station, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China

⁴ Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China

Plant translation elongation factor 1 alpha (EF1A) is both a protein synthesis factor and an important component of plant signal transduction, immune responses, protein trafficking, and apoptosis. However, its role in plant growth and development remains unclear. Herein, a full-length EF1A gene was isolated from banana (Musa acuminata L.) fruit and termed MaEF1A. We found that MaEF1A shared a high sequence identify with respective genes in other plants and the deduced amino acid sequence contained conserved regions of GTP-EFTU, GTP-EFTU-02, and GTP-EFTU-03, as well as two tRNA binding domains and six GTP-binding sites which represent functional domains for protein biosynthesis. MaEF1A protein is mainly localized to the nucleus. MaEF1A was constitutively expressed in different banana organs including developing fruits, and the highest expression was detected in ovary 4 stage. Arabidopsis thaliana L. (ecotype Columbia) was transformed with MaEF1A and four transgenic lines were obtained. Three transgenic lines were selected for further phenotypic analyses. Our findings indicate that overexpressed MaEF1A could greatly enhance plant height, root length, and both rhachis and silique length by promoting cell expansion and elongation. These experiments suggest an important role for MaEF1A in plant growth and development.

Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana; gene expression; Musa acuminata; plant development; transgenic plants

Subjects: gene expression; elongation factor; transgenic plants; amino acid sequences; fruit development; banana

Species: Arabidopsis thaliana; Allium cepa; Musa acuminata

Received: November 25, 2014; Revised: September 24, 2015; Accepted: November 25, 2015; Published: September 1, 2016Show citation