Identification of the GRAS gene family in the Brassica juncea genome provides insight into its role in stem swelling in stem mustard

PeerJ

article

Mengyao Li¹  Bo Sun¹  Fangjie Xie¹  Ronggao Gong¹  Ya Luo¹  Fen Zhang¹  Zesheng Yan¹  Haoru Tang¹ 

[1] College of Horticulture, Sichuan Agricultural University

关键词: GRAS transcription factor;    Genome-wide;    Brassica juncea;    Stem swelling;    Expression profile;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.6682

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

GRAS transcription factors are known to play important roles in plant signal transduction and development. A comprehensive study was conducted to explore the GRAS family in the Brassica juncea genome. A total of 88 GRAS genes were identified which were categorized into nine groups according to the phylogenetic analysis. Gene structure analysis showed a high group-specificity, which corroborated the gene grouping results. The chromosome distribution and sequence analysis suggested that gene duplication events are vital for the expansion of GRAS genes in the B. juncea genome. The changes in evolution rates and amino acid properties among groups might be responsible for their functional divergence. Interaction networks and cis-regulatory elements were analyzed including DELLA and eight interaction proteins (including four GID1, two SLY1, and two PIF3 proteins) that are primarily involved in light and hormone signaling. To understand their regulatory role in growth and development, the expression profiles of BjuGRASs and interaction genes were examined based on transcriptome data and qRT-PCR, and selected genes (BjuGRAS3, 5, 7, 8, 10, BjuB006276, BjuB037910, and BjuA021658) had distinct temporal expression patterns during stem swelling, indicating that they possessed diverse regulatory functions during the developmental process. These results contribute to our understanding on the GRAS gene family and provide the basis for further investigations on the evolution and functional characterization of GRAS genes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY