LEA — Triticum aestivum

Summary

TRAESCS5B02G018300, designated TaLEA on chromosome 5B of bread wheat, encodes a protein containing an LEA_SMP domain. This gene is associated with a wide range of biological processes, including seed maturation and development, embryogenesis, cold acclimation, stomatal closure, detoxification, immune and hypersensitivity responses, ethene and glutathione metabolism, cuticle anabolism, and plastid localization. TaLEA is linked to numerous agronomic traits such as grain weight, size, color, and protein content, spike length, days to flowering and maturity, heat and salinity tolerance, water use efficiency, photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content, and osmotic adjustment capacity. It also connects to seed germination, dormancy, and abscisic acid response. Studies of related genes in other species link the LEA_SMP family to cold tolerance, germination rate, root traits, and leaf size.