Identification and characterization of two members of the FtsH gene family in maize (Zea mays L.)

Two full-length cDNAs, designated as ZmFtsH2A and ZmFtsH2B, were isolated from maize (Zea mays L.) by suppression subtractive hybridization coupled with in silico cloning approach. The predicted proteins of ZmFtsH2A and ZmFtsH2B both consisted of 677 amino acid residues and displayed high similarity to FtsH2 protease of Arabidopsis thaliana. DNA gel blotting analysis indicated that AtFtsH2-like genes exist as two copies in maize genome. The genomic sequences of ZmFtsH2A and ZmFtsH2B were cloned and the main difference was that the first intron of ZmFtsH2B was much longer than that of ZmFtsH2A. RT-PCR analysis revealed that both genes were constitutively expressed in all examined tissues and the expression level of ZmFtsH2B transcripts was higher than that of ZmFtsH2A. The responses of the two genes in maize seedlings to PEG, cold, high salt, and ABA treatments were compared, and the results showed that ZmFtsH2B transcription in leaves was markedly up-regulated by water deficit stress and ABA treatments while ZmFtsH2A constitutively expressed both in leaves and roots under all tested stressful conditions. Drought tolerance of transgenic tobaccos overexpressing ZmFtsH2A and ZmFtsH2B weren't improved compared to wild-type controls, which indicated that two genes might not be directly involved in plant drought tolerance or the number of functional FtsH heterocomplex might not be increased in this condition. Our current study provides fundamental information for the further investigation of the maize FtsH proteins.