In silico analysis reveals 75 members of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase gene family in rice.

Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase Kinases (MAPKKKs) are important components of MAPK cascades, which are universal signal transduction modules and play important role in plant growth and development. In the sequenced Arabidopsis genome 80 MAPKKKs were identified and currently being analysed for its role in different stress. In rice, economically important monocot cereal crop only five MAPKKKs were identified so far. In this study using computational analysis of sequenced rice genome we have identified 75 MAPKKKs. EST hits and full-length cDNA sequences (from KOME or Genbank database) of 75 MAPKKKs supported their existence. Phylogenetic analyses of MAPKKKs from rice and Arabidopsis have classified them into three subgroups, which include Raf, ZIK and MEKK. Conserved motifs in the deduced amino acid sequences of rice MAPKKKs strongly supported their identity as members of Raf, ZIK and MEKK subfamilies. Further expression analysis of the MAPKKKs in MPSS database revealed that their transcripts were differentially regulated in various stress and tissue-specific libraries.