**5. Conclusions**

At a glance, this study methodically investigated at a genome wide level LEA proteins from a monocot perennial desert plant, *Cleistogenes songorica*. A total of 44 genes discovered were classified into eight different subfamilies and were found to be patchily spread over the *C. songorica* chromosomes. Analysis of the physio-chemical properties, motif and gene structure, homology and phylogenetic relationships detected that they were mostly similar within the same groups, but greatly differed among different subfamilies. Our study particularly explored CsLEA\_2 and CsDEHYDRIN subfamilies proteins and elucidated their striking links with the regulatory mechanisms of plant abiotic stress tolerance. This study delivers a comprehensive summary of the evolution of the *C. songorica LEA* genes and some groundbreaking insights to the functional roles of this family that can be a critical foundation for crop abiotic tolerance improvement.

**Supplementary Materials:** Supplementary materials can be found at http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/19/11/ 3430/s1.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, Y.W., J.Z., B.P.M. and X.M.; methodology, Y.W., J.Z., B.P.M., Z.Y.Y. and X.M.; software, B.P.M., Q.Y., Z.Y.Y. and F.W.; validation, B.P.M., X.M. and G.K.; formal analysis, B.P.M.; investigation, Q.Y. and J.Z.; resources, Y.W.; data curation, B.P.M., F.W.; writing-original draft preparation, B.P.M.; writing-review and editing, J.Z. and B.M.; visualization, G.K.; supervision, Y.W., project administration, Y.W., and G.K.; funding acquisition, Y.W.

**Funding:** This work was supported by the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT\_17R50), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31572453), the Open Project Program of State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLGAE201702) and the 111 project (B12002).

**Acknowledgments:** We thank Xin Shun Ding for his suggestions during manuscript preparation. We sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and detailed suggestions for revision.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
