[Functional genomics studies of Salvia miltiorrhiza III. analyze of metallothionein (MT-2) genes].

Objective: To study the metallothionein genes of Salvia miltiorrhiza through bioinformatics and characterization of tissue expression in regenerated shoots.
Method: Metallothionein genes were obtained by cDNA microarray analyze. BLAST was used for align, ORF finder software was used to find open reading frame, Prosite database was used to analyze the protein. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR method was used to detect the gene expression level.
Result: Two metallothionein genes were obtained which were contained a deduced amino acid sequence of 80 and 79 residues, named as SmMT-2a and SmMT-2b, they had a homology of 71.25%. Semiquantitative RT-PCR indicated that metallothionein genes were expressed in all tissues such as root, stem and leaf in regenerated shoots, while the expression level was higher in leaf than in root and stem.
Conclusion: It was the first time that metallothionein genes were obtained from S. miltiorrhiza. It provides a good basis for further functional study of S. miltiorrhiza.