Molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of putative senescence associated gene 21 in Stevia rebaudiana accession MS007

• Main Authors: Mustafa, Nur Farhana, Mohamad Nazar, Siti Noor Eliana, Abdul Rahim, Zabirah, Samsulrizal, Nurul Hidayah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 2022
• Subjects: S Agriculture (General)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/101182/7/101182_Molecular%20identification%20and%20phylogenetic%20analysis.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/101182/; https://www.matrixscipharma.org/temp/MatrixSciPharma6235-4226547_011026.pdf

Background: Stevia rebaudiana is a perennial semi-shrub plant which comes from the Asteraceae family, with an approximate height of around 30 cm. The leaves of Stevia are small, elliptic, and serrated, measuring 2 to 4 cm long. It has been used commercially as a natural sweetener in Japan due to the steviol glycosides (SGs) content in the leaves. The stevioside content is 300 times sweeter than sucrose. It has non-nutritive values, which is good for diabetes and obesity patients. The SGs content in Stevia can be improved by increasing light exposure (long day condition). The Senescence Associated Gene 21 (SAG21) gene is one of the interesting genes to be identified and discovered in Stevia. Aims and Objectives: The objectives of this research were to identify and characterise the SAG21 gene using in silico analysis. Materials and Methods: These data analyses were obtained using ExPASy, blastP, InterPro, Pfam, TMHMM, ProtParam, and MEGA software. Results: Putative SAG21 MS007 showed high homology with the SAG21 gene in Helianthus annuus with a high percentage of identity, which was 80.90%. It also confirmed that the putative SAG21 MS007 protein contained the domain LEA_3. It was usually found in land plants and accumulated heavily in the last stage of seed formation. ProtParam analysis found that the putative SAG21 protein was a stable globular protein. TMHMM analysis predicted that this protein is a hydrophilic protein and is located outside of transmembrane helices. Conclusion: The phylogenetic tree showed that the putative SAG21 MS007 gene had a close relationship with the SAG21 protein of H. annuus, with a bootstrap value of more than 70%.