Magnesium transporter family: sequence, evolution and expression analysis in soybean (Glycine max L.)

Magnesium transporter (MGT) genes play a critical role in plant growth, development, and stress responses. These genes involve Mg uptake, transport, and distribution within cells and organs. In this study, 48 MGT family members were screened from the soybean genome, and three subfamilies, including MRS2-like (18 members), CorA (3 members), and NIPA (22 members). The length of soybean MGTs ranged from 160 amino acids (aa) (GLYMA_06G214500) to 555 aa (GLYMA_15G125900). The results revealed that NIPA subfamily proteins have more genetic distance than MRS2-like and CorA proteins. In addition, the NIPA subfamily members showed a high variation in physiochemical properties such as theoretical isoelectric point (pI), grand average of hydropathicity (GRAVY), and instability index. All NIPAs were identified as hydrophobic proteins, while the MRS2-like and CorA members were predicted as hydrophilic. Moreover, the instability index revealed that NIPA members are more stable, while more MRS2-like and CorA proteins are predicted to be unstable.  Additionally,, several duplication events were recognized among MGT family members, and all duplicated genes have been created through segmental duplication. The expression profile of soybean MGT genes showed significant differences in expression levels across various s. These results confirm that MGTs’ widespread distribution across organs,  regulating magnesium homeostasis.