Genome-wide identification of members of the family in almond (), cloning and expression characterization of .

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(S-phase kinase-associated protein 1) is the core gene of SCF ubiquitin ligase, which mediates protein degradation, thereby regulating biological processes such as cell cycle progression, transcriptional regulation, and signal transduction. A variety of plant gene family studies have been reported. However, the almond gene family has not yet been studied. In this study, we identified 18 members of the family that were unevenly distributed across six chromosomes of the almond genome. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the members can be divided into three groups: I, II, and III. members in each subfamily have relatively conserved motif types and exon/intron numbers. There were three pairs of fragment duplication genes and one pair of tandem repeat genes, and their functions were highly evolutionarily conserved. Transcriptome data showed that is expressed in almond flower tissues, and that its expression shows significant change during cross-pollination. Fluorescence quantitative results showed that eight genes had different expression levels in five tissues of almond, i.e., branches, leaves, flower buds, flesh, and cores. In addition, we cloned a gene based on . The cloned showed the same protein sequence as . Results of qPCR and western blot analysis showed high expression of in almond pollen. In conclusion, we report the first clone of the key gene that controls self-incompatibility in almonds. Our research lays a foundation for future functional research on members, especially for exploring the mechanism of almond self-incompatibility.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-023-01278-9.