Isolation and Characterization of Nuclear Localized Abiotic Stress Responsive Cold Regulated Gene 413 (SsCor413) from Saccharum spontaneum

Winter survival develops efficient tolerance mechanisms in plants by regulating cold-responsive and cold-regulated genes at the transcriptional level. Hence, an insight into the expression would provide the molecular function of these cold responsive genes. In this study, an uncharacterized gene encoding a cold-regulated (Cor413) protein identified from Saccharum spontaneum (wild relative species of sugarcane) low-temperature transcriptome with environmental adaptability is isolated and characterized. The full-length coding region possesses an open reading frame of 642 bp, which encodes a putative polypeptide of 213 amino acids of molecular weight 25.6 kDa and an isoelectric point (Pi) of 9.69. The SsCor413 sequence showed a high similarity to monocot Cor413 proteins comprising a WCOR413 domain. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that Cor413 protein has multispanning transmembrane helices along with highly conserved phosphorylation sites. String analysis suggested that SsCor413 is grouped with LEA and Rab proteins that are involved in freezing tolerance. Gene ontology analysis assigned the protein to terms such as “plasma membrane,” “cold acclimation,” and “response to cold.” Sub-cellular localization experiments of sugarcane callus and onion epidermal cells indicated the nuclear localized expression. Quantitative gene expression analysis indicated that the SsCor413 gene is up-regulated in leaf and root tissues of S. spontaneum under low temperature, salinity, and water deficit stress conditions. These results highlight the potential role of SsCor413 in abiotic stress tolerance, and this gene could be a new candidate for combating multiple stresses in sugarcane.