RESUMEN
The cytokinin response factors (CRFs) are pivotal players in regulating plant growth, development, and responses to diverse stresses. Despite their significance, comprehensive information on CRF genes in the primary food crop, maize, remains scarce. In this study, a genome-wide analysis of CRF genes in maize was conducted, resulting in the identification of 12 members. Subsequently, we assessed the chromosomal locations, gene duplication events, evolutionary relationships, conserved motifs, and gene structures of all ZmCRF members. Analysis of ZmCRF promoter regions indicated the presence of cis-regulatory elements associated with plant growth regulation, hormone response, and various abiotic stress responses. The expression patterns of maize CRF genes, presented in heatmaps, exhibited distinctive patterns of tissue specificity and responsiveness to multiple abiotic stresses. qRT-PCR experiments were conducted on six selected genes and confirmed the involvement of ZmCRF genes in the plant's adaptive responses to diverse environmental challenges. In addition, ZmCRF9 was demonstrated to positively regulate cold and salt tolerance. Ultimately, we explored the putative interaction partners of ZmCRF proteins. In summary, this systematic overview and deep investigation of ZmCRF9 provides a solid foundation for further exploration into how these genes contribute to the complex interplay of plant growth, development, and responses to stress.
Asunto(s)
Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Familia de Multigenes , Proteínas de Plantas , Estrés Fisiológico , Zea mays , Zea mays/genética , Zea mays/metabolismo , Estrés Fisiológico/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Filogenia , Genoma de Planta , Regiones Promotoras Genéticas , Citocininas/metabolismo , Estudio de Asociación del Genoma Completo , Duplicación de GenRESUMEN
Cytokinin response factors (CRFs), as unique transcription factors in plants, play crucial roles in regulating development, phytohormone signaling pathway, and stress responses. In this study, we identified nine CRF genes from the rice genome by conducting a BLAST analysis using the protein sequences of twelve Arabidopsis AtCRFs. These genes are located on seven different rice chromosomes. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the conserved domains, physicochemical properties, secondary structures, and phylogenetic relationships of rice CRF proteins using various online tools and local software. Additionally, we analyzed the exon-intron structures and cis-acting elements of OsCRFs, and found an abundance of elements relevant to phytohormone response and stress response on the promoters of rice CRF genes. Spatial-temporal expression pattern analysis revealed that four of the OsCRFs were barely expressed in all tested samples, while the other five were highly expressed in the leaf, panicle, or seed of rice. Microarray data showed that OsCRF genes are regulated to varying degrees by abscisic acid, auxin, cytokinin, and jasmonic acid. Furthermore, through analyzing the RNA-seq data, we found that OsCRFs are primarily involved in plant response to temperature stress (chilling and heat), with several OsCRFs also implicated in drought response, while hardly any respond to salt stress. This study provides an important basis for the functional characterization of rice CRF family genes.
Asunto(s)
Citocininas , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Oryza , Filogenia , Proteínas de Plantas , Oryza/genética , Oryza/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Citocininas/metabolismo , Reguladores del Crecimiento de las Plantas/metabolismo , Reguladores del Crecimiento de las Plantas/farmacología , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Familia de Multigenes , Estrés Fisiológico/genética , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Ácido Abscísico/farmacología , Ácido Abscísico/metabolismoRESUMEN
Cytokinin Response Factors (CRFs) are a family of transcription factors which make up a side branch of the classical cytokinin two-component signaling pathway. CRFs were originally identified and have been primarily studied in Arabidopsis thaliana, although orthologs have be found throughout all land plants. Research into the evolution of CRFs as sub-group members of the larger APETALA2/Ethylene Response Factor (AP2/ERF) family has yielded interesting and useful insights related to the functional roles of CRFs in plants. Recent studies of CRFs suggest that these transcription factors are a lot more than just a group of cytokinin related genes and play important roles in both plant development and environmental stress response. This review focuses on recent advances in understanding the roles of CRFs beyond cytokinin, in reproductive development and abiotic stress response, as well as to other environmental cues.
Asunto(s)
Fenómenos Fisiológicos de las Plantas/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Citocininas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Reproducción/genética , Estrés Fisiológico/genética , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Cytokinin is a classical phytohormone that plays important roles in numerous plant growth and development processes. In plants, cytokinin signals are transduced by a two-component system, which involves many genes, including cytokinin response factors (CRFs). Although CRFs take vital part in the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana and Solanum lycopersicum, little information of the CRFs in the Brassica U-triangle species has been known yet. RESULTS: We identified and compared 141 CRFs in the diploids and amphidiploids of Brassica species, including B. rapa, B. oleracea, B. nigra, B. napus, and B. juncea. For all the 141 CRFs, the sequence and structure analysis, physiological and biochemical characteristics analysis were performed. Meanwhile, the Ka/Ks ratios of orthologous and paralogous gene pairs were calculated, which indicated the natural selective pressure upon the overall length or a certain part of the CRFs. The expression profiles of CRFs in different tissues and under various stresses were analyzed in B. oleracea, B. nigra, and B. napus. The similarities and differences in gene sequences and expression profiles among the homologous genes of these species were discussed. In addition, AtCRF11 and its ortholog BrCRF11a were identified to be related to primary root growth in Arabidopsis. CONCLUSION: This study performed a genome-wide comparative analysis of the CRFs in the diploids and amphidiploids of the Brassica U-triangle species. Many similarities and differences in gene sequences and expression profiles existed among the CRF homologous genes of these species. In the bioinformatics analysis, we found the close relativity of the CRF homologous genes in the Brassica A and C genomes and the distinctiveness of those in the B genome, and the CRF homologous genes in B subgenome were considerably influenced by the A subgenome of B. juncea. In addition, we identified a new function of the Clade V CRFs related to root growth, which also clarified the functional conservation between Arabidopsis and B. rapa. These results not only offer useful information on the functional analysis of CRFs but also provide new insights into the evolution of Brassica species.
Asunto(s)
Brassica/genética , Diploidia , Evolución Molecular , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Poliploidía , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Brassica/efectos de los fármacos , Brassica/crecimiento & desarrollo , Brassica/fisiología , Cromosomas de las Plantas/genética , Filogenia , Raíces de Plantas/crecimiento & desarrollo , Regiones Promotoras Genéticas/genética , Sales (Química)/farmacología , Selección Genética , Estrés Fisiológico/efectos de los fármacos , Estrés Fisiológico/genética , SinteníaRESUMEN
Cytokinin Response Factors (CRFs) are AP2/ERF transcription factors involved in cytokinin signal transduction. CRF proteins consist of a N-terminal dimerization domain (CRF domain), an AP2 DNA-binding domain, and a clade-specific C-terminal region of unknown function. Using a series of sequential deletions in yeast-2-hybrid assays, we provide evidence that the C-terminal region of Arabidopsis CRF5 can confer transactivation activity. Although comparative analyses identified evolutionarily conserved protein sequence within the C-terminal region, deletion experiments suggest that this transactivation domain has a partially redundant modular structure required for activation of target gene transcription.