CYTME2 — Sorghum bicolor

Summary

SbCYTME2 (SORBI_3003G036200) on sorghum chromosome 3 encodes a malate dehydrogenase (decarboxylating) with both NAD+ and NADP+ activity (EC 1.1.1.40), also possessing oxaloacetate decarboxylase activity, and belongs to the malic enzyme family. The gene is associated with C4 photosynthesis, malate metabolism and transport, and has been linked to leaf vascular tissue pattern formation, auxin and brassinosteroid signalling, and responses to cadmium and osmotic stress. Associations with drought tolerance, water use efficiency, photosynthetic rate, stomatal resistance, and respiration rate have been noted, along with connections to aluminium tolerance, salt and oxidative stress tolerance, root development, seed germination, and pathogen resistance. The product localises to multiple compartments including the cytosol, plastid, mitochondria, and plasmodesmata. Studies of related genes in other species link the family to salt stress tolerance, primary metabolism, and growth regulation.