Differential expression of cysteine peptidase genes in the inner integument and endosperm of developing seeds of Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae)

• Autor(a) principal: Rocha, Antônio J.
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Soares, Emanoella L., Costa, José H., Costa, Washington L. G., Soares, Arlete A., Nogueira, Fábio C. S., Domont, Gilberto B., Campos, Francisco A. P.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)
• Texto Completo: http://www.repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/59043
• topic: Programmed cell death; Protein processing; Oilseeds; Vacuolar processing enzyme; KDEL-tailed cysteine peptidase

In several plant tissues, programmed cell death (PCD) is mediated by the combined action of cysteine peptidases, namely KDEL-tailed cysteine peptidases (KDEL-CysEP) and vacuolar processing enzymes (VPE). Here, we performed a search of the draft genome of Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) and identified 2 genes for KDEL-CysEP (Jc-CysEP1 and Jc-CysEP2) and 3 genes for VPE (Jc-βVPE, Jc-γVPE and Jc-ıVPE) and determined the expression patterns of these genes by RT-qPCR in integument and cellular endosperm of seeds collected at seven different developmental stages. We were able to demonstrate that the expression of Jc-CysEP1, Jc-CysEP2, Jc-βVPE and Jc-γVPE proceeded rapidly from Stage IV, with Jc-CysEP2 displaying the highest relative expression; expression of Jc-ıVPE could not be detected in any of the tissues/developmental stages analyzed. Additionally, we showed that the expression pattern of these peptidases correlates with anatomical changes in integument and cellular endosperm, thus suggesting a role for both classes of peptidases in PCD and in protein processing, both of which occur simultaneously in each of these tissues.