Anhui Provincial Key Lab. of the Conservation and Exploitation of Biological Resources, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China.
Anhui Provincial Key Lab. of the Conservation and Exploitation of Biological Resources, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China.
Gene. 2021 Feb 20;770:145348. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2020.145348. Epub 2020 Dec 15.
Heat shock factors (Hsfs) and heat shock proteins (Hsps) play a critical role in the molecular mechanisms such as plant development and defense against abiotic. As an important food crop, maize is vulnerable to adverse environment such as heat stress and water logging, which leads to a decline in yield and quality. To date, very little is known regarding the structure and function of Hsf and Hsp genes in maize. Although some Hsf and Hsp genes have been characterized in maize, analysis of the entire Hsf and Hsp70 gene families were not completed following Maize (B73) Genome Sequencing Project. Therefore, studying their molecular mechanism and revealing their biological function in plant stress resistance process will contribute to reveal important theoretical significance and application value for improving corn yield and quality. In this study, we have identified 25 ZmHsf and 22 ZmHsp70 genes in maize. The structural characteristics and phylogenetic relationships of the Hsf and Hsp70 gene families of Arabidopsis thaliana, rice and maize were compared. The final 25 ZmHsf proteins and 22 ZmHsp70 proteins were divided into three and four subfamilies, respectively. In addition, chromosomal localization indicated that the ZmHsf and ZmHsp70 genes were unevenly distributed on the chromosome, and the gene structure map revealed the characteristics of their structures. Finally, transcriptome analysis indicated that most of the ZmHsf and ZmHsp70 genes showed different expression patterns at different developmental stages of maize. Further, by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR analysis, all 25 ZmHsf and 22 ZmHsp70 genes were confirmed to respond to heat stress treatment, indicating that they have potential effects in heat stress response. The analyses performed by combining co-expression network with protein-protein interaction network among the members of the Hsf and Hsp70 gene families in maize further enabled us to recognize components involved in the regulatory network associated with hsfs and hsp70s complex. The predicted subcellular location revealed that maize Hsp70 proteins exhibited a various subcellular distribution, which may be associated with functional diversification in heat stress response. Taken together, our study provides comprehensive information on the members of Hsf and Hsp70 gene families and will help in elucidating their exact function in maize.
热休克因子（Hsfs）和热休克蛋白（Hsps）在植物发育和抵御非生物胁迫等分子机制中发挥着关键作用。作为一种重要的粮食作物，玉米易受到热胁迫和水涝等不利环境的影响，导致产量和品质下降。迄今为止，人们对玉米中 Hsf 和 Hsp 基因的结构和功能知之甚少。虽然已经在玉米中鉴定了一些 Hsf 和 Hsp 基因，但在完成玉米（B73）基因组测序项目后，并未对整个 Hsf 和 Hsp70 基因家族进行分析。因此，研究它们在植物抗逆过程中的分子机制和揭示其生物学功能，将有助于揭示提高玉米产量和品质的重要理论意义和应用价值。在本研究中，我们在玉米中鉴定了 25 个 ZmHsf 和 22 个 ZmHsp70 基因。比较了拟南芥、水稻和玉米 Hsf 和 Hsp70 基因家族的结构特征和系统发育关系。最终将 25 个 ZmHsf 蛋白和 22 个 ZmHsp70 蛋白分别分为三个和四个亚家族。此外，染色体定位表明 ZmHsf 和 ZmHsp70 基因在染色体上不均匀分布，基因结构图谱揭示了它们结构的特征。最后，转录组分析表明，大多数 ZmHsf 和 ZmHsp70 基因在玉米不同发育阶段表现出不同的表达模式。此外，通过半定量 RT-PCR 和定量实时 PCR 分析，证实所有 25 个 ZmHsf 和 22 个 ZmHsp70 基因均对热胁迫处理有响应，表明它们在热胁迫响应中具有潜在作用。通过对玉米 Hsf 和 Hsp70 基因家族成员的共表达网络与蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用网络的联合分析，进一步认识到与 hsfs 和 hsp70s 复合物相关的调控网络中的组成成分。预测的亚细胞定位表明，玉米 Hsp70 蛋白表现出不同的亚细胞分布，这可能与热应激反应中的功能多样化有关。综上所述，本研究提供了 Hsf 和 Hsp70 基因家族成员的全面信息，有助于阐明它们在玉米中的确切功能。
