Aquaporins in Pearl Millet: genomic, coding and protein sequences

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L) R. Br.) is a key cereal for food security in arid and semi-arid regions but its yield is increasingly threatened by water stress. Physiological mechanisms consisting in saving water or increasing water use efficiency can alleviate that stress. Aquaporins (AQP) are water channels contributing to plant hydraulic balance that are supposedly involved in these mechanisms by mediating root water transport. However, AQP remain largely uncharacterized in pearl millet. We developed genomic approaches to identify the entire AQP family in pearl millet. We identified and annotated 33 AQP genes in pearl millet among which ten encoded Plasma Membrane Intrinsic Proteins (PIP). The genomic, coding and protein sequences of the identified AQP are available in this dataset. Furthermore, Phyre2 web-based service was used to performed modeling prediction of the pearl millet PIP based on homologies with aquaporin with known structure. This analysis generated Protein Data Bank (PDB) files for each PIP that are also available in this dataset.