Unraveling -like Family Genes in spp. Facilitated to Identify Putative NPR1 and NPR3/4 Orthologues Participating in Strawberry- Interaction.

The salicylic acid receptor NPR1 (nonexpressor of pathogenesis-related genes) and its paralogues NPR3 and NPR4 are master regulators of plant immunity. Commercial strawberry ( × ) is a highly valued crop vulnerable to various pathogens. Historic confusions regarding the identity of -like genes have hindered research in strawberry resistance. In this study, the comprehensive identification and phylogenic analysis unraveled this family, harboring 6, 6, 5, and 23 members in , , , and × , respectively. These genes were clustered into three clades, with each diploid member matching three to five homoalleles in × . Despite the high conservation in terms of gene structure, protein module, and functional residues/motifs/domains, substantial divergence was observed, hinting strawberry NPR proteins probably function in ways somewhat different from . RT-PCR and RNAseq analysis evidenced the transcriptional responses of and to . Extended expression analysis for strawberry -likes helped to us understand how strawberry orchestrate the NPRs-centered defense system against . The cThe current work supports that FveNPR1 and FxaNPR1a, as well as FveNPR31 and FxaNPR31a-c, were putative functional orthologues of AtNPR1 and AtNPR3/4, respectively. These findings set a solid basis for the molecular dissection of biological functions of strawberry -like genes for improving disease resistance.