Protein structure and gene expression study of phytochrome B in maize

• DOI: 10.1007/s13562-012-0154-x
• Publication Date: 2012-09-22T03:47:30Z
• Authors: Zhuang Li; Yu-Bi Huang
• Keywords: Phytochrome A; Phytochrome; Coding region

Two phytochrome B genes were cloned in Maize (Zea May. L) B73 (ZmPhyB1 and ZmPhyB2), and encoded protein structure were analyzed, the results showed that both proteins had 6 conservative coding domains which were analogues among a number of other species and some distinguish existed in two protein. The expression patterns of two genes under different light conditions and in varying tissues were analyzed using semi-quantitative reversed transcript polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. The results showed that their expression patterns differs from that of phytochrome B in Arabidopsis thaliana (AtPhyB), which may result from the evolutionary diversity between monocots and dicots. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed large differences between their tissue expression patterns. We speculated that the two genes might be involved in feedback regulation in response to environmental factors such as dark, hormone etc.