In the hexaploid wheat genome, there are three Gα genes, three Gβ and twelve Gγ genes, but the function of Gβ in wheat has not been explored. In this study, we obtained the overexpression of TaGB1 Arabidopsis plants through inflorescence infection, and the overexpression of wheat lines was obtained by gene bombardment. The results showed that under drought and NaCl treatment, the survival rate of Arabidopsis seedlings’ overexpression of TaGB1-B was higher than that of the wild type, while the survival rate of the related mutant agb1-2 was lower than that of the wild type. The survival rate of wheat seedlings with TaGB1-B overexpression was higher than that of the control. In addition, under drought and salt stress, the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and proline (Pro) in the wheat overexpression of TaGB1-B were higher than that of the control, and the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) was lower than that of the control. This indicates that TaGB1-B could improve the drought resistance and salt tolerance of Arabidopsis and wheat by scavenging active oxygen. Overall, this work provides a theoretical basis for wheat G-protein β-subunits in a further study, and new genetic resources for the cultivation of drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant wheat varieties.

The peptidase M24 (Metallopeptidase 24, M24) superfamily is essential for plant growth, stress response, and pathogen defense. At present, there are few systematic reports on the identification and classification of members of the peptidase M24 proteins superfamily in wheat. In this work, we identified 53 putative candidate TaM24 genes. According to the protein sequences characteristics, these members can be roughly divided into three subfamilies: I, II, III. Most TaM24 genes are complex with multiple exons, and the motifs are relatively conserved in each sub-group. Through chromosome mapping analysis, we found that the 53 genes were unevenly distributed on 19 wheat chromosomes (except 3A and 3D), of which 68% were in triads. Analysis of gene duplication events showed that 62% of TaM24 genes in wheat came from fragment duplication events, and there were no tandem duplication events to amplify genes. Analysis of the promoter sequences of TaM24 genes revealed that cis-acting elements were rich in response elements to drought, osmotic stress, ABA, and MeJA. We also studied the expression of TaM24 in wheat tissues at developmental stages and abiotic stress. Then we selected TaM24-9 as the target for further analysis. The results showed that TaM24-9 genes strengthened the drought and salt tolerance of plants. Overall, our analysis showed that members of the peptidase M24 genes may participate in the abiotic stress response and provided potential gene resources for improving wheat resistance.

Wheat plays a crucial role in ensuring global food security, and the GLK family of transcription factors is an important regulator of chloroplast development, chlorophyll synthesis, photosynthesis, and stress tolerance. However, there are few genome-wide studies of the GLK genes in wheat, especially regarding their roles in photosynthesis and phosphorus (Pi) deficiency. In this study, 173 GLK transcription factors (TFs) were identified in wheat and combined with bioinformatics analysis and statistical methods. The wheat GLK family was divided into eight subfamilies (I-VIII) based on phylogenetic relationships and motif composition. The TaGLK genes had mainly undergone segmental duplication during their evolution and had been subjected to strong selective pressure for purification. Both subcellular localization predictions and experimental results suggest that the wheat GLK protein was primarily localized in the cell nucleus. The TaGLK genes showed a higher degree of collinearity with those of maize in the gramineous family, suggesting that the two were more closely related in terms of their evolutionary relationship. Transcriptome data analysis results indicated that the expression patterns of wheat GLK genes were significantly different in various tissues, and there were significant differences in the amount of expression. Meanwhile, RT–qPCR analysis revealed that TaGLKs genes expression were induced by light, dark, Pi starvation, and drought stress. Among them, members of subfamily VI were structurally conserved and may be involved in the development of chloroplasts and may positively regulate photosynthesis and chlorophyll biosynthesis, whereas members of subfamily VIII had a conserved motif (LHEQLE) and may be involved in the stress response to phosphorus deficiency. These findings provide valuable information for further studies on the function of TaGLK genes and their potential roles in light signal sensing, chloroplast development, and abiotic stress response.

Background: Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a key glycolytic enzyme that also plays important roles in plant responses to abiotic stresses. However, the evolutionary relationships of the GAPDH genes among wheat species with different ploidy levels remain poorly understood, and the key TaGAPDH members involved in the drought response of wheat have yet to be identified. Results: In this study, we identified 5, 6, 13, and 19 GAPDH proteins in Triticum urartu , Aegilops tauschii , Triticum turgidum , and Triticum aestivum with different ploidy levels. All identified GAPDH proteins harbored the conserved Gp_dh_N and Gp_dh_C domains and were phylogenetically assigned to four subfamilies: GAPA, GAPB, GAPC, and GAPCp. Gene structure and conserved motif analyses indicated overall conservation of the GAPDH family but clear divergence among subfamilies, with Motif 13 emerging as a characteristic motif unique to GAPB. Cis -element prediction revealed that the promoters of TaGAPDH genes contain numerous putative cis -acting elements associated with responses to drought and light. Transcriptomic profiling further verified that TaGAPDH genes exhibited tissue-specific expression patterns and were actively responsive to drought stress. Expression trend correlation analysis of drought-responsive transcriptomic data suggested a potential regulatory association between TaMYB-7D and TaGAPDH5 . Consistently, transient dual-luciferase assays showed that TaMYB-7D activates the TaGAPDH5 promoter. Under drought stress, TaGAPDH5 overexpressing Arabidopsis thaliana lines displayed less intense DAB and NBT staining, higher soluble sugar contents, reduced wilting, and fewer dead leaves than wild type plants. Conclusions: Collectively, this study characterized GAPDH gene family members in wheat species of different ploidy levels and identified TaGAPDH5 as a potential drought tolerance candidate, providing a basis for further functional validation and possible application in drought tolerance breeding.