Molecular characterization, expression and functional analysis of acyl-CoA-binding protein gene family in maize (Zea mays)

BACKGROUND: Acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) possess a conserved acyl-CoA-binding (ACB) domain that facilitates binding to acyl-CoA esters and trafficking in eukaryotic cells. Although the various functions of ACBP have been characterized in several plant species, their structure, molecular evolution, expression profile, and function have not been fully elucidated in Zea mays L. RESULTS: Genome-wide analysis identified nine ZmACBP genes in Z. mays, which could be divided into four distinct classes (class I, class II, class III, and class IV) via construction of a phylogenetic tree that included 48 ACBP genes from six different plant species. Transient expression of a ZmACBP-GFP fusion protein in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) epidermal cells revealed that ZmACBPs localized to multiple different locations. Analyses of expression profiles revealed that ZmACBPs exhibited temporal and spatial expression changes during abiotic and biotic stresses. Eight of the nine ZmACBP genes were also found to have significant association with agronomic traits in a panel of 500 maize inbred lines. The heterologous constitutive expression of ZmACBP1 and ZmACBP3 in Arabidopsis enhanced the resistance of these plants to salinity and drought stress, possibly through alterations in the level of lipid metabolic and stress-responsive genes. CONCLUSION: The ACBP gene family was highly conserved across different plant species. ZmACBP genes had clear tissue and organ expression specificity and were responsive to both biotic and abiotic stresses, suggesting their roles in plant growth and stress resistance. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-021-02863-4.