*Article* **Mining** *Late Embryogenesis Abundant* **(LEA) Family Genes in** *Cleistogenes songorica***, a Xerophyte Perennial Desert Plant**

**Blaise Pascal Muvunyi , Qi Yan, Fan Wu, Xueyang Min, Zhuan Zhuan Yan, Gisele Kanzana, Yanrong Wang \* and Jiyu Zhang \***

State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems; Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture; College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University; Lanzhou 730000, China; muvunyi14@lzu.edu.cn (B.P.M.); yanq16@lzu.edu.cn (Q.Y.); wuf15@lzu.edu.cn (F.W.); minxy15@lzu.edu.cn (X.M.); yanzhzh16@lzu.edu.cn (Z.Z.Y.); giskanzana@gmail.com (G.K.)

**\*** Correspondence: yrwang@lzu.edu.cn (Y.W.); zhangjy@lzu.edu.cn (J.Z.); Tel.: +86-931-891-4051 (Y.W.); +86-138-933-29958 (J.Z.)

Received: 19 September 2018; Accepted: 23 October 2018; Published: 1 November 2018

**Abstract:** Plant growth and development depends on its ability to maintain optimal cellular homeostasis during abiotic and biotic stresses. *Cleistogenes songorica*, a xerophyte desert plant, is known to have novel drought stress adaptation strategies and contains rich pools of stress tolerance genes. Proteins encoded by *Late Embryogenesis Abundant* (LEA) family genes promote cellular activities by functioning as disordered molecules, or by limiting collisions between enzymes during stresses. To date, functions of the *LEA* family genes have been heavily investigated in many plant species except perennial monocotyledonous species. In this study, 44 putative *LEA* genes were identified in the *C. songorica* genome and were grouped into eight subfamilies, based on their conserved protein domains and domain organizations. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that *C. songorica* Dehydrin and LEA\_2 subfamily proteins shared high sequence homology with stress responsive Dehydrin proteins from Arabidopsis. Additionally, promoter regions of *CsLEA\_2* or *CsDehydrin* subfamily genes were rich in G-box, drought responsive (MBS), and/or Abscisic acid responsive (ABRE) *cis*-regulatory elements. In addition, gene expression analyses indicated that genes from these two subfamilies were highly responsive to heat stress and ABA treatment, in both leaves and roots. In summary, the results from this study provided a comprehensive view of *C. songorica LEA* genes and the potential applications of these genes for the improvement of crop tolerance to abiotic stresses.

**Keywords:** *Cleistogenes songorica*; LEA proteins; gene expression analysis; abiotic stresses
