scholarly journals Genome-Wide Analysis of the NAC Transcription Factor Gene Family Reveals Differential Expression Patterns and Cold-Stress Responses in the Woody Plant Prunus mume

Genes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaokang Zhuo ◽  
Tangchun Zheng ◽  
Zhiyong Zhang ◽  
Yichi Zhang ◽  
Liangbao Jiang ◽  
...  

NAC transcription factors (TFs) participate in multiple biological processes, including biotic and abiotic stress responses, signal transduction and development. Cold stress can adversely impact plant growth and development, thereby limiting agricultural productivity. Prunus mume, an excellent horticultural crop, is widely cultivated in Asian countries. Its flower can tolerate freezing-stress in the early spring. To investigate the putative NAC genes responsible for cold-stress, we identified and analyzed 113 high-confidence PmNAC genes and characterized them by bioinformatics tools and expression profiles. These PmNACs were clustered into 14 sub-families and distributed on eight chromosomes and scaffolds, with the highest number located on chromosome 3. Duplicated events resulted in a large gene family; 15 and 8 pairs of PmNACs were the result of tandem and segmental duplicates, respectively. Moreover, three membrane-bound proteins (PmNAC59/66/73) and three miRNA-targeted genes (PmNAC40/41/83) were identified. Most PmNAC genes presented tissue-specific and time-specific expression patterns. Sixteen PmNACs (PmNAC11/19/20/23/41/48/58/74/75/76/78/79/85/86/103/111) exhibited down-regulation during flower bud opening and are, therefore, putative candidates for dormancy and cold-tolerance. Seventeen genes (PmNAC11/12/17/21/29/42/30/48/59/66/73/75/85/86/93/99/111) were highly expressed in stem during winter and are putative candidates for freezing resistance. The cold-stress response pattern of 15 putative PmNACs was observed under 4 °C at different treatment times. The expression of 10 genes (PmNAC11/20/23/40/42/48/57/60/66/86) was upregulated, while 5 genes (PmNAC59/61/82/85/107) were significantly inhibited. The putative candidates, thus identified, have the potential for breeding the cold-tolerant horticultural plants. This study increases our understanding of functions of the NAC gene family in cold tolerance, thereby potentially intensifying the molecular breeding programs of woody plants.

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Li ◽  
Tangchun Zheng ◽  
Lulu Li ◽  
Xiaokang Zhuo ◽  
Liangbao Jiang ◽  
...  

Prunus mume is an important ornamental woody plant that grows in tropical and subtropical regions. Freezing stress can adversely impact plant productivity and limit the expansion of geographical locations. Understanding cold-responsive genes could potentially bring about the development of new ways to enhance plant freezing tolerance. Members of the serine/threonine protein kinase (CIPK) gene family play important roles in abiotic stress. However, the function of CIPK genes in P. mume remains poorly defined. A total of 16 CIPK genes were first identified in P. mume. A systematic phylogenetic analysis was conducted in which 253 CIPK genes from 12 species were divided into three groups. Furthermore, we analysed the chromosomal locations, molecular structures, motifs and domains of CIPK genes in P. mume. All of the CIPK sequences had NAF domains and promoter regions containing cis-acting regulatory elements of the related stress response. Three PmCIPK genes were identified as Pmu-miR172/167-targeted sites. Transcriptome data showed that most PmCIPK genes presented tissue-specific and time-specific expression profiles. Nine genes were highly expressed in flower buds in December and January, and 12 genes were up-regulated in stems in winter. The expression levels of 12 PmCIPK genes were up-regulated during cold stress treatment confirmed by qRT-PCR. Our study improves understanding of the role of the PmCIPK gene family in the low temperature response in woody plants and provides key candidate genes and a theoretical basis for cold resistance molecular-assisted breeding technology in P. mume.


Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong ◽  
Jiang ◽  
Yang ◽  
Xiao ◽  
Bai ◽  
...  

The NAC gene family is one of the largest families of transcriptional regulators in plants, and it plays important roles in the regulation of growth and development as well as in stress responses. Genome-wide analyses have been performed in diverse plant species, but there is still no systematic analysis of the NAC genes of Coffea canephora Pierre ex A. Froehner. In this study, we identified 63 NAC genes from the genome of C. canephora. The basic features and comparison analysis indicated that the NAC gene members increased via duplication events during the evolution of the plant. Phylogenetic analysis divided the NAC proteins from C. canephora, Arabidopsis and rice into 16 subgroups. Analysis of the expression patterns of CocNACs under cold stress and coffee bean development indicated that 38 CocNACs were differentially expressed under cold stress; six genes may play important roles in the process of cold acclimation, and four genes among 54 CocNACs showing a variety of expression patterns during different developmental stages of coffee beans may be positively related to the bean development. This study can expand our understanding of the functions of the CocNAC gene family in cold responses and bean development, thereby potentially intensifying the molecular breeding programs of Coffea spp. plants.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6594
Author(s):  
Shuting Zhang ◽  
Qin Zhou ◽  
Feng Chen ◽  
Lan Wu ◽  
Baojun Liu ◽  
...  

The plant-specific TCP transcription factors are well-characterized in both monocots and dicots, which have been implicated in multiple aspects of plant biological processes such as leaf morphogenesis and senescence, lateral branching, flower development and hormone crosstalk. However, no systematic analysis of the petunia TCP gene family has been described. In this work, a total of 66 petunia TCP genes (32 PaTCP genes in P. axillaris and 34 PiTCP genes in P. inflata) were identified. Subsequently, a systematic analysis of 32 PaTCP genes was performed. The phylogenetic analysis combined with structural analysis clearly distinguished the 32 PaTCP proteins into two classes—class Ι and class Ⅱ. Class Ⅱ was further divided into two subclades, namely, the CIN-TCP subclade and the CYC/TB1 subclade. Plenty of cis-acting elements responsible for plant growth and development, phytohormone and/or stress responses were identified in the promoter of PaTCPs. Distinct spatial expression patterns were determined among PaTCP genes, suggesting that these genes may have diverse regulatory roles in plant growth development. Furthermore, differential temporal expression patterns were observed between the large- and small-flowered petunia lines for most PaTCP genes, suggesting that these genes are likely to be related to petal development and/or petal size in petunia. The spatiotemporal expression profiles and promoter analysis of PaTCPs indicated that these genes play important roles in petunia diverse developmental processes that may work via multiple hormone pathways. Moreover, three PaTCP-YFP fusion proteins were detected in nuclei through subcellular localization analysis. This is the first comprehensive analysis of the petunia TCP gene family on a genome-wide scale, which provides the basis for further functional characterization of this gene family in petunia.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 3246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianbo Li ◽  
Jin Zhang ◽  
Huixia Jia ◽  
Zhiqiang Yue ◽  
Mengzhu Lu ◽  
...  

Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) function mainly as molecular chaperones that play vital roles in response to diverse stresses, especially high temperature. However, little is known about the molecular characteristics and evolutionary history of the sHsp family in Salix suchowensis, an important bioenergy woody plant. In this study, 35 non-redundant sHsp genes were identified in S. suchowensis, and they were divided into four subfamilies (C, CP, PX, and MT) based on their phylogenetic relationships and predicted subcellular localization. Though the gene structure and conserved motif were relatively conserved, the sequences of the Hsp20 domain were diversified. Eight paralogous pairs were identified in the Ssu-sHsp family, in which five pairs were generated by tandem duplication events. Ka/Ks analysis indicated that Ssu-sHsps had undergone purifying selection. The expression profiles analysis showed Ssu-Hsps tissue-specific expression patterns, and they were induced by at least one abiotic stress. The expression correlation between two paralogous pairs (Ssu-sHsp22.2-CV/23.0-CV and 23.8-MT/25.6-MT) were less than 0.6, indicating that they were divergent during the evolution. Various cis-acting elements related to stress responses, hormone or development, were detected in the promoter of Ssu-sHsps. Furthermore, the co-expression network revealed the potential mechanism of Ssu-sHsps under stress tolerance and development. These results provide a foundation for further functional research on the Ssu-sHsp gene family in S. suchowensis.


Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bao ◽  
Ding ◽  
Cheng ◽  
Wang ◽  
Zhang

Prunus mume, which is a rosaceous arbor with very high ornamental, edible and medical values, has a distribution that is mainly restricted by low temperature. WRKY transcription factor genes play crucial roles in the growth, development, and stress responses of plants. However, the WRKY gene family has not been characterised in P. mume. There were 58 PmWRKYs identified from genome of P. mume. They were anchored onto eight link groups and categorised into three broad groups. The gene structure and motif composition were reasonably conservative in each group. Investigation of gene duplication indicated that nine and seven PmWRKYs were arranged in tandem and segmental duplications, respectively. PmWRKYs were discriminately expressed in different tissues (i.e., roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits) in P. mume. The 17 cold-related candidate genes were selected based on RNA-seq data. Further, to investigate the function of PmWRKYs in low temperatures, the expression patterns under artificial cold treatments were analysed. The results showed that the expression levels of the 12 PmWRKYs genes significantly and 5 genes slightly changed in stems. In particular, the expression level of PmWRKY18 was up-regulated after ABA treatment. In addition, the spatiotemporal expression patterns of 17 PmWRKYs were analysed in winter. These results indicated that 17 PmWRKYs were potential transcription factors regulating cold resistance in P. mume.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaofeng Li ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Yaoxiang Zhang ◽  
Gaopu Zhu ◽  
Xuchun Zhu ◽  
...  

Aquaporins (AQPs) are essential channel proteins that play a major role in plant growth and development, regulate plant water homeostasis, and transport uncharged solutes across biological membranes. In this study, 33 AQP genes were systematically identified from the kernel-using apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) genome and divided into five subfamilies based on phylogenetic analyses. A total of 14 collinear blocks containing AQP genes between P. armeniaca and Arabidopsis thaliana were identified by synteny analysis, and 30 collinear blocks were identified between P. armeniaca and P. persica. Gene structure and conserved functional motif analyses indicated that the PaAQPs exhibit a conserved exon-intron pattern and that conserved motifs are present within members of each subfamily. Physiological mechanism prediction based on the aromatic/arginine selectivity filter, Froger’s positions, and three-dimensional (3D) protein model construction revealed marked differences in substrate specificity between the members of the five subfamilies of PaAQPs. Promoter analysis of the PaAQP genes for conserved regulatory elements suggested a greater abundance of cis-elements involved in light, hormone, and stress responses, which may reflect the differences in expression patterns of PaAQPs and their various functions associated with plant development and abiotic stress responses. Gene expression patterns of PaAQPs showed that PaPIP1-3, PaPIP2-1, and PaTIP1-1 were highly expressed in flower buds during the dormancy and sprouting stages of P. armeniaca. A PaAQP coexpression network showed that PaAQPs were coexpressed with 14 cold resistance genes and with 16 cold stress-associated genes. The expression pattern of 70% of the PaAQPs coexpressed with cold stress resistance genes was consistent with the four periods [Physiological dormancy (PD), ecological dormancy (ED), sprouting period (SP), and germination stage (GS)] of flower buds of P. armeniaca. Detection of the transient expression of GFP-tagged PaPIP1-1, PaPIP2-3, PaSIP1-3, PaXIP1-2, PaNIP6-1, and PaTIP1-1 revealed that the fusion proteins localized to the plasma membrane. Predictions of an A. thaliana ortholog-based protein–protein interaction network indicated that PaAQP proteins had complex relationships with the cold tolerance pathway, PaNIP6-1 could interact with WRKY6, PaTIP1-1 could interact with TSPO, and PaPIP2-1 could interact with ATHATPLC1G. Interestingly, overexpression of PaPIP1-3 and PaTIP1-1 increased the cold tolerance of and protein accumulation in yeast. Compared with wild-type plants, PaPIP1-3- and PaTIP1-1-overexpressing (OE) Arabidopsis plants exhibited greater tolerance to cold stress, as evidenced by better growth and greater antioxidative enzyme activities. Overall, our study provides insights into the interaction networks, expression patterns, and functional analysis of PaAQP genes in P. armeniaca L. and contributes to the further functional characterization of PaAQPs.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuyun Hou ◽  
Taifeng Du ◽  
Zhen Qin ◽  
Tao Xu ◽  
Aixian Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) serves as an important food source for human beings. β-galactosidase (bgal) is a glycosyl hydrolase involved in cell wall modification, which plays essential roles in plant development and environmental stress adaptation. However, the function of bgal genes in sweetpotato remains unclear. Results In this study, 17 β-galactosidase genes (Ibbgal) were identified in sweetpotato, which were classified into seven subfamilies using interspecific phylogenetic and comparative analysis. The promoter regions of Ibbgals harbored several stress, hormone and light responsive cis-acting elements. Quantitative real-time PCR results displayed that Ibbgal genes had the distinct expression patterns across different tissues and varieties. Moreover, the expression profiles under various hormonal treatments, abiotic and biotic stresses were highly divergent in leaves and root. Conclusions Taken together, these findings suggested that Ibbgals might play an important role in plant development and stress responses, which provided evidences for further study of bgal function and sweetpotato breeding.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Zhao ◽  
Song Chen ◽  
Wenjing Yao ◽  
Zihan Cheng ◽  
Boru Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The bZIP gene family, which is widely present in plants, participates in varied biological processes including growth and development and stress responses. How do the genes regulate such biological processes? Systems biology is powerful for mechanistic understanding of gene functions. However, such studies have not yet been reported in poplar. Results In this study, we identified 86 poplar bZIP transcription factors and described their conserved domains. According to the results of phylogenetic tree, we divided these members into 12 groups with specific gene structures and motif compositions. The corresponding genes that harbor a large number of segmental duplication events are unevenly distributed on the 17 poplar chromosomes. In addition, we further examined collinearity between these genes and the related genes from six other species. Evidence from transcriptomic data indicated that the bZIP genes in poplar displayed different expression patterns in roots, stems, and leaves. Furthermore, we identified 45 bZIP genes that respond to salt stress in the three tissues. We performed co-expression analysis on the representative genes, followed by gene set enrichment analysis. The results demonstrated that tissue differentially expressed genes, especially the co-expressing genes, are mainly involved in secondary metabolic and secondary metabolite biosynthetic processes. However, salt stress responsive genes and their co-expressing genes mainly participate in the regulation of metal ion transport, and methionine biosynthetic. Conclusions Using comparative genomics and systems biology approaches, we, for the first time, systematically explore the structures and functions of the bZIP gene family in poplar. It appears that the bZIP gene family plays significant roles in regulation of poplar development and growth and salt stress responses through differential gene networks or biological processes. These findings provide the foundation for genetic breeding by engineering target regulators and corresponding gene networks into poplar lines.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 3235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanguo Ke ◽  
Farhat Abbas ◽  
Yiwei Zhou ◽  
Rangcai Yu ◽  
Yuechong Yue ◽  
...  

Auxin plays a key role in different plant growth and development processes, including flower opening and development. The perception and signaling of auxin depend on the cooperative action of various components, among which auxin/indole-3-acetic acid (Aux/IAA) proteins play an imperative role. In a recent study, the entire Aux/IAA gene family was identified and comprehensively analyzed in Hedychium coronarium, a scented species used as an ornamental plant for cut flowers. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Aux/IAA gene family in H. coronarium is slightly contracted compared to Arabidopsis, with low levels of non-canonical proteins. Sequence analysis of promoters showed numerous cis-regulatory elements related to various phytohormones. HcIAA genes showed distinct expression patterns in different tissues and flower developmental stages, and some HcIAA genes showed significant responses to auxin and ethylene, indicating that Aux/IAAs may play an important role in linking hormone signaling pathways. Based on the expression profiles, HcIAA2, HcIAA4, HcIAA6 and HcIAA12, were selected as candidate genes and HcIAA2 and HcIAA4 were screened for further characterization. Downregulation of HcIAA2 and HcIAA4 by virus-induced gene silencing in H. coronarium flowers modified the total volatile compound content, suggesting that HcIAA2 and HcIAA4 play important roles in H. coronarium floral scent formation. The results presented here will provide insights into the putative roles of HcIAA genes and will assist the elucidation of their precise roles during floral scent formation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhixuan Du ◽  
Qitao Su ◽  
Zheng Wu ◽  
Zhou Huang ◽  
Jianzhong Bao ◽  
...  

AbstractMultidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) proteins are involved in many physiological functions of plant growth and development. Although an increasing number of MATE proteins have been identified, the understanding of MATE proteins is still very limited in rice. In this study, 46 MATE proteins were identified from the rice (Oryza sativa) genome by homology searches and domain prediction. The rice MATE family was divided into four subfamilies based on the phylogenetic tree. Tandem repeats and fragment replication contribute to the expansion of the rice MATE gene family. Gene structure and cis-regulatory elements reveal the potential functions of MATE genes. Analysis of gene expression showed that most of MATE genes were constitutively expressed and the expression patterns of genes in different tissues were analyzed using RNA-seq. Furthermore, qRT-PCR-based analysis showed differential expression patterns in response to salt and drought stress. The analysis results of this study provide comprehensive information on the MATE gene family in rice and will aid in understanding the functional divergence of MATE genes.


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