Genome-Wide Identification and Comprehensive Analysis of the Gene Family in Pomegranate Fruit Development and Postharvest Preservation.

Pomegranate ( L.) is a kind of fruit with significant economic, ecological and health values. AP2/ERF transcription factors belong to a large group of factors mainly found in plants and play key roles in plant growth and development. However, AP2/ERF genes in pomegranate and their implication in development and postharvest preservation have been little described. In this study, 116 genes in pomegranate were identified and renamed based on their chromosomal distributions. Phylogenetic relationship with genes from other species, structures, duplications, annotations, -elements in promoter sequences, and protein-protein interaction networks among PgAP2/ERF proteins were comprehensively explored. Expression analysis revealed several associated with the phenotypes of pomegranate seed hardness, including , , , and . Subsequent analysis indicated that many differentially expressed genes are potentially important regulators of pomegranate fruit development. Furthermore, expression of more than one-half of was repressed in 'Tunisian soft seed' pomegranate fruit under low-temperature cold storage. The results showed that 1-MCP implicated in promoting postharvest preservation of 'Tunisian soft seed' pomegranate upregulated the , , , , and genes compared to those under low-temperature cold storage. This indicates that these genes are important candidate genes involved in pomegranate postharvest preservation. In summary, the findings of the present study provide an important basis for characterizing the family genes and provide information on the candidate genes involved in pomegranate fruit development and postharvest preservation.