Comparative Genomic Study of Plant Putative Glutamate Receptors

Glutamate receptors are ion channels that were first discovered in vertebrates and found to play a vital role in the mediation of signal transmission in the central nervous system. Recently, sequence homologs of these receptors were found in Arabidopsis, which was a surprise, as plants do not have a true nervous system. These putative glutamate receptors (GLRs) have been shown to play a critical physiological role in the regulation of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in Arabidopsis. However, their functions at the molecular and biochemical levels are not known. The newly completed genome of a second plant, rice, presents an opportunity to investigate the functions of the GLRs via a comparative genomic approach. Using phylogenetic and bioinformatics analysis, we identify the important residues, functional specificity, and potentially interacting sites and domains.