Genome-wide analysis of aquaporin and their responses to abiotic stresses in plants: A systematic review and meta-analysis

To enhance crop survival and yield, a comprehensive understanding of abiotic stresses responses is crucial. The aquaporin AQP gene family, renowned for its pivotal role in various physiological processes and environmental adaptations, offers potential for enhancing crop resilience. This systematic review aims to provide thorough insights into genome-wide analyses of aquaporin genes across various plant species. With the advent of wholegenome sequencing, genome-wide analyses have become indispensable for identifying novel AQP genes in plants. While numerous studies have reported the functional and structural characterization of these genes using in silico approaches, our approach involved a meta-analysis of papers available in various electronic databases, following predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, up to November 2022. Incorporating 82 studies, this systematic review, collectively identified over 5200 AQP isoforms. The PIPs (1803), TIPs (1538), and NIPs (1297) subfamilies notably exhibited the highest number of isoforms, while SIPs and XIPs had 435 and 201 isoforms, respectively. Overall, this review constitutes a significant contribution, providing a comprehensive analysis of genome-wide data on plant aquaporin genes. It contributes to the understanding of the diverse roles of aquaporins and their isoforms, elucidating their functions and regulations across different plant species under various stress conditions.