The Peach Dehydrin Family Is Small Relative to All Other Sequenced Plant Genomes

Recent advances in genomic sequencing technology have allowed the addition of a number of crops to the growing list of completely sequenced genomes. We have analyzed the peach (Prunus persica [L] Batsch) genome of a doubled haploid line ('Lovell 2D') for the dehydrin gene family and compared its members to the genomes of Arabidopsis, poplar, apple and rice. This comparison suggests that peach has about half the complement of dehydrin genes found in the other genomes surveyed. Whereas Arabidopsis has 10 genes encoding bona fide dehydrins, and poplar, apple and rice all have nine dehydrin homologs, peach has only five, identified on the basis of signature sequences, i.e. the K domain, and conserved regions, e.g. the Y domain and the serine tract. Expression analysis of the peach dehydrin genes compared to those in rice and Arabidopsis indicates that some functions have been preserved between peach dehydrins and their homologs from other species, while other peach dehydrins have evolved to fill overlapping roles in response to abiotic stress exposure.