Genome-wide identification and characterization of the gene family in Chinese cabbage ( L. ssp. ).

Ovate family proteins (OFPs) are a class of proteins with a conserved OVATE domain that contains approximately 70 amino acid residues. OFP proteins are plant-specific transcription factors that participate in regulating plant growth and development and are widely distributed in many plants. Little is known about OFPs in to date. We identified 29 genes in and found that they were unevenly distributed on 10 chromosomes. Intron gain events may have occurred during the structural evolution of paralogues. Syntenic analysis verified genome triplication, and whole genome duplication likely contributed to the expansion of the gene family. All genes had light responsive- and phytohormone-related cis-acting elements. Expression analysis from RNA-Seq data indicated that there were obvious changes in the expression levels of six genes in the hybrid, which may contribute to the formation of heterosis. Finally, we found that the paralogous genes had different expression patterns among the hybrid and its parents. These results provide the theoretical basis for the further analysis of the biological functions of genes across the species.