Characterization and chromosome location of ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs) in wheat

In this study, the ARF genes were cloned, sequenced and located on the chromosomes. The gene expression of various stress conditions were analyzed through RT-PCR. Two important features of ARF in wheat were found: (1) High sequences homology among species in mammalian and plant and (2) Four exons and three introns were conserved in Poaceae. In this study the coding genes of ADP-ribosylation Factors (ARF) were characterized and they were located on chromosomes 3AL and 2DL in common wheat and its diploid progenitors. Forty-seven candidate SNPs in ARF were detected which were located in exons (17 SNPs) and introns (30 SNPs), respectively. As expected, most of the SNPs (66.34%) in ARF were transitions and the rest (33.66%) were transversions. The expression difference of ARF under various environmental stresses (low-temperature, Abscisic Acid (ABA), Polyethylene Glycol (PEG), NaCl, stripe rust), in two stages (seedling and maturity) and in different tissues (root, stem, flag leaf and immature embryo) of 15 days post-flowering were investigated. The results revealed that the expression levels of ARF were affected by environmental stresses. PEG stress induced the highest level of ARF expression, followed by the stripe rust and ABA stresses.