LEA — Nicotiana attenuata

Summary

A4A49_29859 (NaLEA) on chromosome 2 of coyote tobacco encodes a dehydrin xero 1 protein, a member of the dehydrin family. The gene is associated with cellular responses to desiccation, salt, drought, light stimulus, water, mannitol, hypoxia, ethylene, and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, as well as cold acclimation, the MAPK cascade, embryogenesis, morphogenesis, seedling development, cell death, and regulation of gene expression. It has been linked to seed maturation, photosynthetic rate, freezing and cold tolerance, osmotic stress response, drought and dehydration response, salt stress tolerance, ABA response, membrane stability, and seedling establishment. The encoded protein localizes to the vesicle membrane, membrane, cytosol, cytoplasm, and nucleus, and exhibits phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidate, phosphoinositide, lipid, and metal binding activities. Studies of related genes in other species connect the family to drought tolerance, salt tolerance, ABA signaling, and low temperature response.