In higher plants, phosphomannomutase(PMM) is essential for synthesizing the antioxidant ascorbic acid through the Smirnoff–Wheeler pathway. Previously, we characterized six PMM genes(Ta PMM-A1, A2, B1, B2, D1 and D2) in common wheat(Triticum aestivum, AABBDD).Here, we report a molecular genetic analysis of PMM genes in Triticum monococcum(AmAm), a diploid wheat species whose Amgenome is closely related to the A genome of common wheat. Two distinct PMM genes, Tm PMM-1 and Tm PMM-2, were found in T. monococcum. The coding region of Tm PMM-1 was intact and highly conserved. In contrast, two main Tm PMM-2 alleles were identified, with Tm PMM-2a possessing an intact coding sequence and Tm PMM-2b being a pseudogene. The transcript level of Tm PMM-2a was much higher than that of Tm PMM-2b, and a bacterially expressed Tm PMM-2a recombinant protein displayed relatively high PMM activity. In general, the total transcript level of PMM was substantially higher in accessions carrying Tm PMM-1 and Tm PMM-2a than those harboring Tm PMM-1 and Tm PMM-2b. However, total PMM protein and activity levels did not differ drastically between the two genotypes. This work provides new information on PMM genes in T. monococcum and expands our understanding on Triticeae PMM genes, which may aid further functional and applied studies of PMM in crop plants.
Chunmei YuXinyan LiuQian ZhangXinyu HeWan HuaiBaohua WangYunying CaoRong Zhou
