Functional and expression analyses of two kinds of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenases in a glycinebetaine-hyperaccumulating graminaceous halophyte, Leymus chinensis

Glycinebetaine (GB) is an important compatible solute for salinity tolerance in many plants. In this study, we analyzed the enzymatic activity and the expression level of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH), an important enzyme that catalyzes the last step in the GB synthesis in Leymus chinensis, a GB-hyperaccumulating graminaceous halophyte, and compared with those of barley, a graminaceous glycophyte. We have isolated cDNAs for two BADH genes, LcBADH1 and LcBADH2. LcBADH1 has a putative peroxisomal signal peptide (PTS1) at its C-terminus, while LcBADH2 does not have any typical signal peptide. Using immunofluorescent labeling, we showed that BADH proteins were localized to the cytosol and dot-shaped organelles in the mesophyll and bundle sheath cells of L.chinensis leaves. The affinity of recombinant LcBADH2 for betaine aldehyde was comparable to other plant BADHs, whereas recombinant LcBADH1 showed extremely low affinity for betaine aldehyde, indicating that LcBADH2 plays a major role in GB synthesis in L. chinensis. In addition, the recombinant LcBADH2 protein was tolerant to NaCl whereas LcBADH1 wasn’t. The kinetics, subcellular and tissue localization of BADH proteins were comparable between L. chinensis and barley. The activity and expression level of BADH proteins were higher in L. chinensis compared with barley under both normal and salinized conditions, which may be related to the significant difference in the amount of GB accumulation between two plants. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-015-0997-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.