In silico analysis of Phaseolus vulgaris L. metalloprotease FtsH gene: characterization and expression in drought and salt stress

Abstract

Proteases help plants maintain protein quality and break down protein subsets in reply to environmental, developmental, biotic, and abiotic stressors. Filamentation temperature-sensitive H (FtsH) is an ATP-dependent metalloprotease detected in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes cells. The present research, the FtsH gene in the bean, which has an important place in the legume family and is an important agricultural product, was characterized for the first time using various bioinformatic tools, and qRT-PCR measured its expression level. In the study, effectively identified and characterized 17 FtsH genes present in genome the of Phaseolus vulgaris. The MW of FtsH proteins varied from 71.16 to 147.07 kDa, their amino acid lengths ranged from 642 to 1284, and their pI values varied from 5.39 to 9.60. Interestingly, the distribution of these 17 distinct PvFtsH genes across the 8 chromosomes was not uniform, exhibiting an uneven pattern throughout the genome. A pair of segmental duplication fragments were found, revealing probable processes of gene expansion and evolution. Collinearity with related genes in Arabidopsis and rice was thoroughly examined to determine the evolutionary conservation and differentiation of PvFtsH genes. Additionally, we used RNAseq and qRT-PCR to investigate the expression patterns of PvFtsH in leaf tissue under salt and drought conditions. Our data showed unique expression patterns, suggesting PvFtsH may respond to environmental and physiological stressors. Overall, this work makes major contributions to our understanding of PvFtsH genes and their roles in the context of gene evolution, chromosomal distribution, and expression patterns under various environmental situations.