Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Soybean Gene Family and Expression Analysis in Response to Abiotic Stresses.

The LOR (-one related) family genes encode proteins containing a conserved LOR domain. Several members of the LOR family genes are required for defense against () in Arabidopsis. However, there are few reports of LOR genes in response to abiotic stresses in plants. In this study, a genome-wide survey and expression levels in response to abiotic stresses of 36 LOR genes from were conducted. The results indicated that the gene family was divided into eight subgroups, distributed on 14 chromosomes. A majority of members contained three extremely conservative motifs. There were four pairs of tandem duplicated and nineteen pairs of segmental duplicated genes identified, which led to the expansion of the number of genes. The expansion patterns of the family were mainly segmental duplication. A heatmap of soybean LOR family genes showed that 36 genes exhibited various expression patterns in different tissues. The cis-acting elements in promoter regions of include abiotic stress-responsive elements, such as dehydration-responsive elements and drought-inducible elements. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression level of genes, and most of them were expressed in the leaf or root except that was induced by osmotic and salt stresses. Moreover, were significantly upregulated after PEG and salt treatments, indicating important roles in the improvement of plant tolerance to abiotic stress. Overall, our study provides a foundation for future investigations of gene functions in soybean.