Effects of receptor-like protein kinase NtFERL on plastid pigment contents

To demonstrate the biological roles of FER-like (FERL) gene in Nicotiana tabacum, NtFERL was cloned with the homologous cloning strategy and its sequence was analyzed. The function of NtFERL was characterized by virus-induced gene silence (VIGS) in N. benthamiana. The results showed that NtFERL located in chromosome 7 was found to lack intron. The CDS sequence of NtFERL was 2 670 bp in length and encoded 889 amino acid residues. Sequence alignment showed that at nucleotide acid and amino acid levels, NtFERL shared 68.8% and 71.1% identities with FERONIA in Arabidopsis thaliana, respectively. NtFERL-silenced tobacco plants exhibited light yellow leaves. Except for neoxanthin, the contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, β-carotene and xanthophyll were significantly reduced, which suggested that NtFERL might positively regulate the plastid pigment contents in tobacco.