Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are a family of low molecular mass proteins (15–42 kDa), which play an important role in the defense of organisms against a variety of environmental stresses and in various developmental processes.
Jatropha curcas L. belongs to the genus Jatropha of the family Euphorbiaceae and mainly distributes in tropical and subtropical regions of South America and South Asia. It can be used as a biodiesel feedstock plant, a source of medicine products and biological pesticides, and for soil and water conservation and land reclamation.
Under the guidance of Prof. Xu Zengfu of XTBG, Dr. Samar A. Omar cloned two cDNAs of small heat shock proteins (sHSPs), designated JcHSP-1 and JcHSP-2, from developing seeds of Jatropha curcas, by the approaches of expressed sequence tag (EST) sequencing of embryo cDNA libraries and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE).
The research found that transcriptional level of both JcHSP-1 and JcHSP-2 increased during seed development; Sharp increase of JcHSP-2 transcripts occurred in dry seeds compared to mature seeds; Accumulation profile of JcHSP-1 and JcHSP-2 proteins was consistent with their mRNA.
These results indicated that both JcHSPs might play an important role in cell protection and seed development during maturation of J. curcas seeds.
The research entitled “Identification and expression analysis of two small heat shock protein cDNAs from developing seeds of biodiesel feedstock plant Jatropha curcas” has been published online in Plant Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2011.03.004