Identification and expression analysis of the FtsH protein family in chickpea in response to drought stress

Abstract

Abstract Harsh environments continuously impact the growth and development of plants, leading to reduced productivity. Therefore, it is crucial to study the acclimation processes to understand the underlying mechanisms for developing climate-resilient plants. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a leguminous crop known for its high protein and carbohydrate content. Though the crop is grown in arid and semi-arid regions, they are vulnerable to extreme stress conditions such as drought stress. Studies on drought-responsive genes were therefore necessary on important economical crop plant like chickpea. The filamentous temperature-sensitive protease H (ftsH) family is speculated to play roles in drought stress response. FtsH protease is a membrane-anchored, zinc metalloprotease, belonging to AAA protease family restricted to organelles of endo-symbiotic origin. FtsH is a critical gene for plant chloroplast development and its photosynthetic control. In our present study, we have identified fourteen FtsH protease-encoding genes providing a comprehensive analysis of the Ca-FtsH gene family. The structure and organization of FtsH genes and their corresponding proteins were studied using different in-silico tools and expression profiling was performed through qRT-PCR. The CaFtsH genes play a crucial role in plant growth and development under abiotic stress, revealed by their differential expression pattern during different stress conditions. The gene expression provided a basis for the functional analysis for the stress-responsive ABA signal transduction pathways. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the biological significance of the FtsH genes and requires further characterization to dissect the precise role of these genes.