Cloning and Expression Analysis of bZIP Transcription Factor from Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L.) Under Abiotic Stress Conditions

Basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors comprise one of the largest gene families in plants. They play a key role in almost every aspect of plant growth and development and also in biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. In this study, we were attempted to study characterization of bZIP, a transcription factor from a climate smart cereal finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.). Seeds of Eleusine coracana (finger millet) was purchase from local market and were grown under field conditions drought and salt stress conditions. In this study, EcbZIP gene was isolated from finger millet, cloned into DH5α cells, screened by using colony PCR and expression analysis in response to two abiotic stresses was carried out by using qRT PCR. EcbZIP coding DNA sequence and protein sequence were retrieved from NCBI Nucleotide Database and Genpept of Accession number KP033192.1 and AJP67539.1 and validated by using SMART (simple modular architecture tool) Domain Tool. Cloning and expression studies were carried out using standardized molecular biology protocol. Results depicted that EcbZIP transcription factor showed significant upregulation under both salt and drought stress conditions, indicating that it plays an important role in tolerance towards these stresses. In conclusion, expression analysis of bZIP gene from finger millet seed cultivar ML-365 showed 5-fold upregulation to salt stress to drought stress and 8-fold upregulation to salt stress. Hence, it can serve as a candidate gene for improving abiotic stress tolerance and can be helpful in enhancing the crop productivity under stress conditions.