Journal Article

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the bZIP transcription factors, and functional analysis in response to drought and cold stresses in pear (Pyrus breschneideri)

Huang, Xiaosan, Chen, Qiming, Dong, Huizhen, Ma, Ming, Zhang, Shaoling

2021

Overview

Background Transcription factors (TFs) are involved in many important biological processes, including cell stretching, histological differentiation, metabolic activity, seed storage, gene regulation, and response to abiotic and biotic stresses. Little is known about the functions, evolutionary history, and expression patterns of basic region-leucine zipper TF family genes in pear, despite the release of the genome of Chinese white pears (“Dangshansuli”). Results Overall, 92 bZIP genes were identified in the pear genome ( Pyrus breschneideri ). Of these, 83 were randomly distributed on all 17 chromosomes except chromosome 4, and the other 9 genes were located on loose scaffolding. The genes were divided into 14 subgroups. Whole-genome duplications, dispersed duplication, and purifying selection for whole-genome duplications are the main reasons for the expansion of the PbrbZIP gene family. The analysis of functional annotation enrichment indicated that most of the functions of PbrbZIP genes were enriched in Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways involved in the abiotic stress response. Next, expression analysis and virus-induced gene silencing results indicated that PbrbZIP genes might play critical roles in response to drought and cold stresses, especially for the genes from subgroups A, C, G, I, and S. Conclusions Ninety-two PbrbZIP genes were identified from the pear genome and classified into 14 subgroups. PbrbZIP genes were mainly expanded from whole-genome duplications and dispersed duplications and retained by purifying selection. PbrbZIP genes were induced by cold and drought stresses and played important roles in drought and cold tolerance. These results provided useful information for further increasing the tolerance of pears to stresses and a foundation to study the cold and drought tolerance mechanism of PbrbZIP genes.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Abiotic stress / Abscisic acid / Agricultural research / Agriculture / Amino Acid Motifs / Amino acids / Annotations / Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - classification / Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - genetics / biochemical pathways / Biological activity / Biomedical and Life Sciences / bZIP transcription factor family / Cell differentiation / Cellular stress response / Chinese white pears / Chromosome 4 / Chromosomes / Cold / Cold tolerance / Cold-Shock Response - genetics / Conserved Sequence / Dispersion / drought / Drought and cold stress tolerance / Drought resistance / Droughts / Encyclopedias / Evolution, Molecular / Evolutionary pattern / family / Fruits / Functional analysis / Gene expression / Gene Expression Profiling / Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / gene ontology / Gene regulation / Gene silencing / Genes / Genetic aspects / Genome, Plant / Genomes / Genomics / Hardiness / histology / Kinases / Leucine / Leucine zipper proteins / Life Sciences / Pear / Pears / Phylogenetics / Physiological aspects / Plant Sciences / Plants / Proteins / Pyrus / Pyrus - genetics / Pyrus - physiology / Reproduction (copying) / RNA-Seq / Scaffolding / seed storage / Signal transduction / stress response / Stresses / Subgroups / Transcription factors / Tree Biology