Abstract:

Nine plasma membrane aquaporin genes named VhPIPs were cloned from wild Vitis quinquangularis and their bioinformatics features and tissue specificity expressions were studied in order to study the structural features of aquaporin gene in wild grape and its role in the process of drought resistance. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that these 9 VhPIP genes can be divided into 2 groups，PIP1 and PIP2，signal sequence SGGHINPAVT contain MIP protein family conserved and 2 NPA（Asn-Pro-Ala）units，every protein is stable and hydrophobic，and each VhPIP contains 6 trans membrane domains. The real-time RT-PCR result showed they expressed in roots，stems and leaves. And VhPIP1;1，VhPIP1;2，VhPIP1;4，VhPIP2;1，VhPIP2;2 and VhPIP2;4 had higher expression level in the roots of ‘Huaxi-9’than other tissues，they may be closely related to the regulation of root water transportation. VhPIP1;5 and VhPIP2;3 had the highest expression level in leaves，these 2 genes may be mainly related to  the water transportation and the transpiration of leaf. The expression level of VhPIP1;3 had no significance in roots，stems and leaves. Compared to the expression of other genes，VhPIP1;1 and VhPIP2;4 had the highest expression in roots，which indicated that they may play a greater role in the water transportation.

Key words: Vitis quinquangularis, wild, aquaporin, gene cloning, expression