Isolation and characterization of TaGSK1 involved in wheat salt tolerance

cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was used to analyze differentially expressed genes in wheat RH8706-49, a salt-stress resistant line (SR) and H8706-34, a salt-stress sensitive line (SS) with or without NaCl stress. A large number of gene fragments related to salt-stress were found. Among them, a full-length cDNA encoding glycogen synthase kinase-shaggy kinase (TaGSK1) was subsequently cloned from SR leaves. The corresponding amino acid sequence was deduced and the primary and secondary structures of the protein predicted, that it has a N-terminus outside transmembrane region with a Serine/Threonine (Serflffir) protein kinase catalytic domain. The molecular weight of mature peptide is 43.5 kDa and the isoelectric point is 8.66. Northern blot analysis showed that TaGSK1 was induced by NaCl stress, and expressed more strongly in SR than in SS. These results suggest that TaGSK1 is involved in wheat response to salt-stress as a part of the signal transduction component. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.