AUTHOR=Cai Kangfeng , Kuang Liuhui , Yue Wenhao , Xie Shanggeng , Xia Xue , Zhang Guoping , Wang Junmei 

TITLE=Calmodulin and calmodulin-like gene family in barley: Identification, characterization and expression analyses

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.964888

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.964888

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Calmodulin (CaM) and calmodulin-like (CML) proteins are Ca<sup>2+</sup> relays and play diverse and multiple roles in plant growth, development and stress responses. However, <italic>CaM/CML</italic> gene family has not been identified in barley (<italic>Hordeum vulgare</italic>). In the present study, 5 <italic>HvCaMs</italic> and 80 <italic>HvCMLs</italic> were identified through a genome-wide analysis. All HvCaM proteins possessed 4 EF-hand motifs, whereas HvCMLs contained 1 to 4 EF-hand motifs. <italic>HvCaM2</italic>, <italic>HvCaM3</italic> and <italic>HvCaM5</italic> coded the same polypeptide although they differed in nucleotide sequence, which was identical to the polypeptides coded by <italic>OsCaM1-1</italic>, <italic>OsCaM1-2</italic> and <italic>OsCaM1-3</italic>. <italic>HvCaMs/CMLs</italic> were unevenly distributed over barley 7 chromosomes, and could be phylogenetically classified into 8 groups. <italic>HvCaMs/CMLs</italic> differed in gene structure, <italic>cis</italic>-acting elements and tissue expression patterns. Segmental and tandem duplication were observed among <italic>HvCaMs/CMLs</italic> during evolution. <italic>HvCML16</italic>, <italic>HvCML18</italic>, <italic>HvCML50</italic> and <italic>HvCML78</italic> were dispensable genes and the others were core genes in barley pan-genome. In addition, 14 <italic>HvCaM/CML</italic> genes were selected to examine their responses to salt, osmotic and low potassium stresses by qRT-PCR, and their expression were stress-and time-dependent. These results facilitate our understanding and further functional identification of <italic>HvCaMs/CMLs</italic>.</p>