State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology and Germplasm Innovation in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 9;7(1):28. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-00040-y.
Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins, which are characterized by a conserved bHLH domain, comprise one of the largest families of transcription factors in both plants and animals, and have been shown to have a wide range of biological functions. However, there have been very few studies of bHLH proteins from perennial tree species. We describe here the identification and characterization of 175 bHLH transcription factors from apple (Malus × domestica). Phylogenetic analysis of apple bHLH (MdbHLH) genes and their Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) orthologs indicated that they can be classified into 23 subgroups. Moreover, integrated synteny analysis suggested that the large-scale expansion of the bHLH transcription factor family occurred before the divergence of apple and Arabidopsis. An analysis of the exon/intron structure and protein domains was conducted to suggest their functional roles. Finally, we observed that MdbHLH subgroup III and IV genes displayed diverse expression profiles in various organs, as well as in response to abiotic stresses and various hormone treatments. Taken together, these data provide new information regarding the composition and diversity of the apple bHLH transcription factor family that will provide a platform for future targeted functional characterization.
碱性螺旋-环-螺旋(bHLH)蛋白的特征是具有保守的 bHLH 结构域,它是植物和动物中最大的转录因子家族之一,具有广泛的生物学功能。然而,对多年生树种的 bHLH 蛋白的研究却很少。本文描述了从苹果(Malus × domestica)中鉴定和描述了 175 种 bHLH 转录因子。苹果 bHLH(MdbHLH)基因及其拟南芥(Arabidopsis)同源物的系统发育分析表明,它们可以分为 23 个亚组。此外,综合基因同线性分析表明,bHLH 转录因子家族的大规模扩张发生在苹果和拟南芥分化之前。对exon/intron 结构和蛋白结构域的分析表明了它们的功能作用。最后,我们观察到 MdbHLH 亚组 III 和 IV 基因在各种器官以及非生物胁迫和各种激素处理中表现出不同的表达谱。综上所述,这些数据为苹果 bHLH 转录因子家族的组成和多样性提供了新的信息,为未来的靶向功能特征提供了一个平台。