The R2R3-MYB transcription factor family in : identification, characterization, expression profiling and posttranscriptional regulation analysis.

The MYB transcription factor family is one of the largest gene families playing regulatory roles in plant growth and development. The MYB family has been studied in a variety of plant species but has not been reported in . Here we identified 72 putative R2R3-MYB genes in using a comprehensive analysis. Sequence features, conversed domains and motifs were characterized. The phylogenetic analysis showed TcMYBs and AtMYBs were clustered into 36 subgroups, of which 24 subgroups included members from and , while 12 subgroups were specific to one species. This suggests the conservation and specificity in structure and function of plant R2R3-MYBs. The expression of in various tissues and different ages of xylem were investigated. Additionally, miRNA-mediated posttranscriptional regulation analysis revealed that were the targets of miR858, miR159 and miR828, suggesting the posttranscriptional regulation of MYBs is highly conserved in plants. The results provide a basis for further study the role of in the regulation of secondary metabolites of .