Abstract:Based on the genome and transcriptome data of Salsola abrotanoides, we identified and analysed the GPAT gene family members of Salsola abrotanoides and explored their transcriptional patterns under drought stress treatment using bioinformatics and qRT-PCR methods. A total of 35 GPAT members, named Sa_GPAT1-35, were identified by BLASTP comparison and HMM search, and most of them encoded to the basic proteins that were mainly localized to the endoplasmic reticulum using the bioinformatics prediction. Spatial structure prediction showed that the secondary structure of Sa_GPAT protein was mainly dominated by α-helix with stable tertiary structure. These family members were divided into four subfamilies, of which subfamily 4 of Salsola abrotanoides was unique and not found in other species such as Arabidopsis. No signal peptides were found by prediction, and approximately 63% of Salsola abrotanoides GPAT family members were predicted with transmembrane structure. Through real time fluorescence quantitative PCR analysis, the Salsola abrotanoides GPATs genes were detected showing tissue-specific transcriptional characteristics. Sa_GPAT003 was highly expressed in seedlings. In conjugation with transcriptome results under drought stress treatment, most family members were found with changed profiles. Sa_GPAT032 showed significantly higher expression after drought stress treatment. The comprehensive analysis results suggest that GPAT gene family members may play an important role in drought stress response in Salsola abrotanoides.