Germins and germin-like proteins (GLPs) known as germination markers are encoded by multigene families in several plant species, including barley. To date, functional analysis has revealed germins and GLPs are involved in diverse processes such as embryonic development and stress responses. The aim of this study was the analysis of barley germins and GLPs. In this study, 80 putative germins and GLPs have been identified in barley by using known 17 germins and GLP sequences. Analysis of germins and GLPs showed all germins and GLPs are distributed on all seven chromosomes that most of them spread through chromosome 3, 4 and 7 with 16, 18 and 12 proteins on each, respectively. The protein sizes varied between 185 and 335 amino acids, with an average length of 225 aa. Twelve conserved motifs were found. While germin motifs 1 and 3 were detected in all germins and GLPs, some motifs were found to be related to signalization. Interestingly, protein–protein interaction analysis demonstrated some GLPs are associated with RAB6-interacting golgin, oligopeptide transmembrane transporter activity, beta-glucuronidase activity, protein N-linked glycosylation, multi-pass membrane protein, and proteins containing zinc finger (Znf) domain and RING (really interesting new gene)-type zinc finger domains. Our findings suggest that barley germins and GLPs may have diverse functions that make them important candidates for crop improvement.

被称为发芽标记的胚芽蛋白和胚芽样蛋白 (GLP) 由包括大麦在内的多种植物物种的多基因家族编码。迄今为止，功能分析表明胚芽蛋白和 GLP 参与胚胎发育和应激反应等多种过程。本研究的目的是分析大麦胚芽蛋白和 GLP。在这项研究中，通过使用已知的 17 种萌发素和 GLP 序列，在大麦中鉴定出了 80 种假定的萌发素和 GLP。对germins和GLPs的分析显示，所有germins和GLPs分布在所有7条染色体上，其中大多数通过3号、4号和7号染色体传播，每条染色体上分别有16、18和12个蛋白质。蛋白质大小在 185 至 335 个氨基酸之间变化，平均长度为 225 个氨基酸。发现了十二个保守基序。虽然在所有胚芽蛋白和 GLP 中均检测到胚芽基序 1 和 3，但发现一些基序与信号传导相关。有趣的是，蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用分析表明，一些 GLP 与 RAB6 相互作用的高尔金、寡肽跨膜转运蛋白活性、β-葡萄糖醛酸酶活性、蛋白质 N 连接糖基化、多通道膜蛋白以及含有锌指 (Znf) 结构域和RING（非常有趣的新基因）型锌指结构域。我们的研究结果表明，大麦胚芽蛋白和 GLP 可能具有多种功能，使其成为作物改良的重要候选者。