Boron transport in Eucalyptus. 2. Identification in silico of a putative boron transporter for xylem loading in eucalypt

• Autor(a) principal: Domingues,Douglas Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2005
• Outros Autores: Leite,Susi Meire Maximino, Farro,Ana Paula Cazerta, Coscrato,Virgínia Elias, Mori,Edson Seizo, Furtado,Edson Luiz, Wilcken,Carlos Frederico, Velini,Edivaldo Domingues, Guerrini,Iraë Amaral, Maia,Ivan Godoy, Marino,Celso Luis
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Genetics and Molecular Biology
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572005000400017
• topic: Eucalyptus; boron; xylem loading; Expressed Sequence Tag (EST); BOR1

Boron (B) is a low mobility plant micronutrient whose molecular mechanisms of absorption and translocation are still controversial. Many factors are involved in tolerance to Boron excess or deficiency. Recently, the first protein linked to boron transport in biological systems, BOR1, was characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana. This protein is involved in boron xylem loading and is similar to bicarbonate transporters found in animals. There are indications that BOR1 is a member of a conserved protein family in plants. In this work, FORESTS database was used to identify sequences similar to this protein family, looking for a probable BOR1 homolog in eucalypt. We found five consensus sequences similar to BOR1; three of them were then used in multiple alignment analysis. Based on amino acid similarity and in silico expression patterns, a consensus sequence was identified as a candidate BOR1 homolog, helping deeper experimental assays that could identify the function of this protein family in Eucalyptus.