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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (4): 158-168.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2025151

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Identification of synaptotagmin gene family members in alfalfa and their transcript profiles under abiotic stresses

Tian ZHANG1,2(), Hua-juan LENG1, Jing CUI1, Fei HE1, Xue WANG1, Ming-na LI1, Qing-chuan YANG1, Jun-mei KANG1()   

  1. 1.Institute of Animal Science,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Beijing 100193,China
    2.College of Life Science and Technology,Harbin Normal University,Harbin 150025,China
  • Received:2025-04-24 Revised:2025-08-09 Online:2026-04-20 Published:2026-02-07
  • Contact: Jun-mei KANG

Abstract:

Synaptotagmin (SYT) proteins in plants belong to the calcium-binding protein family and have attracted much attention in the field of plant biology research. Members of the SYT family have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, but little is known about this gene family in the legume alfalfa (Medicago sativa). In this study, 21 SYT genes were identified in the alfalfa genome based on searches using A. thalianaSYT gene sequences. The alfalfa SYT genes were then analyzed using bioinformatics methods. Phylogenetic analysis of SYT proteins of M. sativa, M. truncatula, and Arabidopsis (21 MsSYTs, 25 MtSYTs, and nine AtSYTs) clarified their homologous relationships and divided the MsSYT genes into four subfamilies. The putative proteins encoded by MsSYT genes showed some differences in their predicted physicochemical properties, but the gene structure and conserved protein motifs were highly conserved among the subfamilies. Analyses of the promoter sequences of MsSYT genes revealed cis-acting elements including light-responsive elements, stress-responsive elements, and hormone-responsive elements, indicating that MsSYTs plays important roles in plant growth and development and in responses to abiotic stresses. Chromosome localization analyses revealed that MsSYT genes were unevenly distributed among the chromosomes, and collinearity analyses detected two sets of non-tandem repeats and two sets of tandem repeats. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analyses showed that some MsSYT genes responded to salt stress, cold stress, and drought stress, and MsSYT8d responded to all three stresses. This study is the first description of SYT genes in alfalfa, the physicochemical properties of their putative encoded proteins, and their evolutionary characteristics and transcript profiles. These results provide a solid theoretical basis for further research on the functional characteristics of MsSYTs in plant growth and development and abiotic stress responses.

Key words: synaptotagmin, alfalfa, abiotic stress, expression analysis