Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel soybean gene encoding a leucine-zipper-like protein induced to salt stress.

To understand molecular responses to salt stress in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), we identified 106 salt-inducible soybean genes that expressed differentially at 72 h after 100 mM NaCl treatment using the cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method. The genes were designated as G. max Transcript-Derived Fragments (GmTDFs). Among these genes, we characterized a soybean gene GmTDF-5 that encoded an unknown protein of 367 amino acids. The GmTDF-5 protein was a putative cytosolic protein with two leucine-zipper motifs at the N-terminal and was calculated as 40.7 kDa. Southern blot analysis indicated that GmTDF-5 presents as an intron-less single gene on soybean genome and possibly distributes narrowly throughout the higher plants. By 100 mM NaCl treatment, the gene expression of GmTDF-5 was induced in the stem and lower-expanded leaf, and the amount of mRNA increased 5.1- and 2.0-fold up to 72 h, respectively. Interestingly, GmTDF-5 expression in the upper-leaf appeared dramatically with 10.0-fold increase at 72 h after the salt stress, but not until 48 h. Hyperosmotic pressure (mannitol treatment) and dehydration also caused the increases similar to NaCl treatment in the levels of GmTDF-5 expression. These results suggest that GmTDF-5 might be a novel cytosolic leucine-zipper-like protein functioning in mature organs of soybean shoot against water-potential changes.