Xiao Peixuan, Feng Jia-Wu, Zhu Xi-Tong, Gao Junxiang
Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2021 Nov 1;12:758187. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.758187. eCollection 2021.
The calmodulin binding transcription activator (CAMTA) is a transcription factor that is widely present in eukaryotes with conserved structure. It contributes to the response to biotic and abiotic stresses and promotes the growth and development of plants. Although previous studies have investigated the number and function of CAMTAs in some species, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary process, phylogenetic relationship, expression patterns, and functions of CAMTAs in plants. Here we identified 465 CMATA genes from 112 plants and systematically studied the origin of CAMTA family, gene expansion, functional differentiation, gene structure, and conservative motif distribution. Based on these analyses, we presented the evidence that CAMTA family was originated from chlorophyta, and we speculated that CAMTA might experience obvious structure variation during its early evolution, and that the number of CAMTA genes might gradually increase in higher plants. To reveal potential functions of CAMTA genes, we analyzed the expression patterns of 12 representative species and found significant species specificity, tissue specificity, and developmental stage specificity of CAMTAs. The results also indicated that the CAMTA genes might promote the maturation and senescence. The expression levels and regulatory networks of CAMTAs revealed that CAMTAs could enhance cold tolerance of rice by regulating carbohydrate metabolism-related genes to accumulate carbohydrates or by modulating target genes together with other transcription factors. Our study provides an insight into the molecular evolution of CAMTA family and lays a foundation for further study of related biological functions.
钙调蛋白结合转录激活因子（CAMTA）是一种转录因子，广泛存在于结构保守的真核生物中。它有助于植物对生物和非生物胁迫作出反应，并促进植物的生长发育。尽管先前的研究已经调查了某些物种中CAMTA的数量和功能，但对植物中CAMTA的进化过程、系统发育关系、表达模式和功能仍缺乏全面的了解。在这里，我们从112种植物中鉴定出465个CMATA基因，并系统地研究了CAMTA家族的起源、基因扩张、功能分化、基因结构和保守基序分布。基于这些分析，我们提出证据表明CAMTA家族起源于绿藻，推测CAMTA在其早期进化过程中可能经历了明显的结构变异，并且CAMTA基因的数量在高等植物中可能逐渐增加。为了揭示CAMTA基因的潜在功能，我们分析了12个代表性物种的表达模式，发现CAMTA具有显著的物种特异性、组织特异性和发育阶段特异性。结果还表明，CAMTA基因可能促进成熟和衰老。CAMTA的表达水平和调控网络表明，CAMTA可以通过调节碳水化合物代谢相关基因来积累碳水化合物，或者与其他转录因子一起调节靶基因，从而增强水稻的耐寒性。我们的研究为深入了解CAMTA家族的分子进化提供了思路，并为进一步研究相关生物学功能奠定了基础。
