AUTHOR=Teng Wan , Zhao Yan-Yan , Zhao Xue-Qiang , He Xue , Ma Wen-Ying , Deng Yan , Chen Xin-Ping , Tong Yi-Ping 

TITLE=Genome-wide Identification, Characterization, and Expression Analysis of PHT1 Phosphate Transporters in Wheat

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.00543

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.00543

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>The PHT1 family of phosphate (Pi) transporters mediates phosphorus (P) uptake and re-mobilization in plants. A genome-wide sequence analysis of <italic>PHT1</italic> genes in wheat (<italic>Triticum aestivum</italic>) was conducted, and their expression locations and responses to P availability were further investigated. We cloned 21 <italic>TaPHT1</italic> genes from the homologous alleles at <italic>TaPHT1.1</italic> to <italic>1.10</italic> through screening a BAC library and amplifying genomic sequences. The TaPHT1 transporters were clustered into five branches in the phylogenetic tree of PHT1 proteins, and the <italic>TaPHT1</italic> genes from a given branch shared high similarities in sequences, expression locations, and responses to P availability. The seven tested <italic>PHT1</italic> genes all showed Pi-transport activity in yeast (<italic>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</italic>) cells grown under both low Pi and high Pi conditions. The expression of <italic>TaPHT1</italic>.<italic>1</italic>/<italic>1.9, 1.2</italic>, and <italic>1.10</italic> were root specific. The expression of these <italic>TaPHT1</italic> genes at flowering positively correlated with P uptake after stem elongation across three P application rates and two wheat varieties in a field experiment. Therefore, modification of <italic>PHT1</italic> expression may improve P use efficiency in a broad regime of P availability.</p>