Gene Family in : Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization and Expression Analysis.

Calcium is an important second messenger in mediating adaptation responses of plants to abiotic and biotic stresses. Calmodulin-like (CML) protein is an important calcium-signaling protein that can sense and decode Ca signal in plants. is a model legume plant; however, investigations of MtCML proteins are limited. Using genome analysis and BLAST database searches, fifty MtCML proteins that possess EF-hand motifs were identified. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CML homologs between , and shared close relationships. Gene structure analysis revealed that these genes contained one to four conserved EF-hand motifs. All are localized to eight chromosomes and underwent gene duplication. In addition, genes were differentially expressed in different tissues of . -acting elements in promoter region and expression analysis revealed the potential response of MtCML protein to abiotic stress and hormones. The results provide a basis of further functional research on the gene family and facilitate their potential use for applications in the genetic improvement on in drought, cold and salt stress environments.