Molecular Characterization and Sequence Identification of TOR Kinase Gene from Wheat (Triticum aestivum)

TOR kinase is key regulator of various processes involved in cell growth and metabolism. It is a large eukaryotic protein identified in animals, plants and yeasts. It is also predicted that under osmotic stress, it induce transcription of a set of stress related genes however, most parts of this regulation machinery are still unknown. Presently, TOR kinase has not been identified in wheat and for this purpose cDNA was synthesized and amplified using primers designed with the help of earlier reports on TOR gene. A fragment of 871bp was sequenced and homology was determined with already reported sequences of TOR kinase in plants. Phylogenetic analysis showed isolated fragment is closely related with TOR kinase of maize. Sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis revealed its identification as a protein of phosphatidylinositol kinase-related kinase family.