Cloning and Expression Analysis of MsGPAT11 Gene in Medicago sativa

Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) mediates the initiation step of glycerol lipid biosynthesis and plays a key role in plant growth and development. In this study, MsGPAT11 gene was cloned from Medicago sativa L. ‘Zhong Mu No.1’ by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Bioinformatics analysis showed that the full-length coding region of the alfalfa MsGPAT11 gene is 1 497 bp, which encodes 498 amino acids with a relative molecular weight of 55.55 kDa and an isoelectric point of 9.27. It contained a conserved acyltransferase structural domain, which is a typical member of the GPAT family. Evolutionary analysis results indicated that MsGPAT11 protein was most closely related to Medicago truncatula and belonged to the same subfamily as Arabidopsis AtGPAT6. Spatiotemporal expression analysis results showed that MsGPAT11 had obvious tissue specificity and was highly expressed in flowers. According to abiotic stress expression analysis results, MsGPAT11 was induced by drought stress (PEG6 000), salt stress (NaCl), and cold stress (4 ℃). MsGPAT11 expression significantly increased (P < 0.05) and peaked after 9 h of salt and drought stress, indicating that MsGPAT11 may be actively involved in regulating abiotic stress (salt and drought stress) in alfalfa and play an important role. In conclusion, the findings of the present study provide a theoretical reference for further exploration of the biological functions of MsGPAT11 under abiotic stress.