Abstract:

In plants, a group of hydrophilic proteins, known as Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins, accumulate to high level during the late stage of seed maturation and during water deficiency in vegetative organs, suggesting a protective role during water limitation. LEA18 protein is a member of LEA protein family. The PvLEA18 transcript and protein level are highly accumulated in dry seeds and pollen grains and also respond to water deficit and ABA treatments. In this study, one LEA18 protein gene from peanut (LuHua 14) was cloned and named AhLEA18. Aligning with several LEA18 proteins from other species by ClustalW program, the result demonstrated that the AhLEA18 is a typical LEA18 protein. The expression of this gene in different tissues and four developmental stages of peanut seeds were analyzed by Semi-quantitative RT-PCR.