LEA — Lactuca sativa

Summary

LsLEA, encoded by the garden lettuce gene LSAT_V11C900499300 on chromosome 9, belongs to the dehydrin protein family and is associated with lipid, phosphoinositide, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidate and metal binding. The gene is linked to responses to abscisic acid, cold, drought, salt, mannitol, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, light stimulus, thirst and fungal defence, as well as cold acclimation, embryogenesis and ABA signaling. It has been connected to transpiration rate, photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content and salt tolerance, and to phenotypes including freezing and cold stress tolerance, seedling establishment, drought and osmotic stress responses, membrane stability and abiotic stress response. The protein localises to the vesicle membrane, membrane, cytosol, cytoplasm and nucleus. Studies of related genes in other species link the family to drought tolerance, salt tolerance, ABA sensitivity and seed maturation.