Genome-wide member identification, phylogeny and expression analysis of PEBP gene family in wheat and its progenitors.

The phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein (PEBP) family comprises ancient proteins found throughout the biosphere that play an important role in plant growth and development, flowering, seed development and dormancy. However, not all genes have been identified or analyzed in common wheat ( L.) and its progenitors. In this study, we identified the genes in common wheat, , and by searching whole genome sequences, and characterized these genes by phylogenetic and transcriptome analyses. A total of 76, 38, 16 and 22 genes were identified in common wheat, , and , respectively. Phylogenetic analysis classified the genes into four subfamilies (, , and ); the subfamily was identified as a new subfamily with genes in this subfamily were conserved in plants. Group 2, 3 and 5 chromosomes of common wheat and its progenitors contained more genes than other chromosomes. The genes were conserved in wheat during evolution, and tandem duplication played a more important role in the amplification of genes than segmental duplication. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis revealed that genes showed tissue/organ-specific expression profiles and some genes were induced to express by biotic stresses. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that seven randomly selected genes expressed differently during seed germination under cold, drought, flood, heat and salt stress treatments, and five of these genes (, , , and ) showed significantly higher expression under different stress treatments, indicating that these genes play important roles during seed germination under stress conditions.