In-silico identification and characterization of lipase gene sequences present in hexaploid wheat

Lipases (EC number 3.1.1.3), capable of hydrolyzing triacylglycerols (TAGs) into glycerol and fatty acids, gained attention due to diverse biotechnological applications and are extensively used in industries like dairy, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food etc. Industrial use of microbial lipases is very costly, so an alternative seed lipase is used due to its low cost, specificity and ease of purification. Lipolytic activities in wheat (genus Triticum) are shown by embryo and aleurone lipids. The present study was undertaken to characterize the identified wheat lipase sequences with the help of bioinformatics tools. 63 wheat lipase genes were identified of which two genes matched common clusters with known lipase sequences of Arabidopsis, Oryza, and Zea mays through phylogenetic tree analysis. From STRING database (v11.0) analysis only one gene (ID: 000056_1AL) showed perfect 1st interaction networking. It depicted 8 functionally transcript partners with 9 nodes and 17 edges of which only 6 nodes have shown 2nd interaction. On further analysis, sequence 000056_1AL showed optimum physico-chemical characters with catalytic activity in lipid metabolism and a better network with 8 functionally associated transcript proteins. Domains present in the sequence 000056_1AL are TAG lipase, lipase class - 3, and phospholipase A1, which show broad substrate specificity of the particular protein.