Genome-Wide Characterization and Expression Analysis of Pathogenesis-Related 1 () Gene Family in Tea Plant ( (L.) O. Kuntze) in Response to Blister-Blight Disease Stress.

Pathogenesis-related 1 (PR-1) proteins, which are defense proteins in plant-pathogen interactions, play an important role in the resistance and defense of plants against diseases. Blister blight disease is caused by Massee and a major leaf disease of tea plants ( (L.) O. Kuntze). However, the systematic characterization and analysis of the gene family in tea plants is still lacking, and the defense mechanism of this family remains unknown. In this study, 17 genes were identified from the tea plant genome and classified into five groups based on their signal peptide, isoelectric point, and C-terminus extension. Most of the CsPR-1 proteins contained an N-terminal signal peptide and a conserved PR-1 like domain. genes comprised multiple -acting elements and were closely related to the signal-transduction pathways involving TCA, NPR1, EDS16, BGL2, PR4, and HCHIB. These characteristics imply an important role of the genes in the defense of the tea plant. In addition, the RNA-seq data and real-time PCR analysis demonstrated that the , -4, , , , , , , and genes were significantly upregulated under tea blister-blight stress. This study could help to increase understanding of genes and their defense mechanism in response to tea blister blight.