Genome-Wide Analysis of the Gene Family and Expression Analysis during Flowering Induction in × 'Somei-yoshino'.

SQUAMOSA Promoter-Binding Protein-Like () genes encode plant-specific transcription factors which bind to the SQUAMOSA promoter of the MADS-box genes to regulate its expression. It plays important regulatory roles in floral induction and development, fertility, light signals and hormonal transduction, and stress response in plants. In this study, 32 genes with complete (squamosa promoter binding protein) conserved domain were identified from the genome of 'Somei-yoshino' and analyzed by bioinformatics. 32 were distributed on 13 chromosomes, encoding 32 proteins with different physical and chemical properties. The phylogenetic tree constructed with and can be divided into 10 subtribes, indicating of different clusters have different biological functions. The conserved motif prediction showed that the number and distribution of motifs on each is varied. The gene structure analysis revealed that harbored exons ranging from 2 to 10. The predictive analysis of acting elements showed that the promoter of contain a large number of light-responsive elements, as well as response elements related to hormone response, growth and development and stress response. The analysis of the expressions in flower induction and flower organs based on qRT-PCR showed that may be the key genes of flower development, and may play a role in the development of sepal and pistil, respectively. The results provide a foundation for the study of transcription factors of 'Somei-yoshino' and provide more reference information of the function of gene in flowering.