Comprehensive Analysis of the INDETERMINATE DOMAIN (IDD) Gene Family and Their Response to Abiotic Stress in .

Transcription factors (TFs) are important regulators of numerous gene expressions due to their ability to recognize and combine cis-elements in the promoters of target genes. The INDETERMINATE DOMAIN (IDD) gene family belongs to a subfamily of C2H2 zinc finger proteins and has been identified only in terrestrial plants. Nevertheless, little study has been reported concerning the genome-wide analysis of the gene family in maize. In total, 22 genes were identified, which can be distributed on 8 chromosomes in maize. On the basis of evolutionary relationships and conserved motif analysis, ZmIDDs were categorized into three clades (1, 2, and 3), each owning 4, 6, and 12 genes, respectively. We analyzed the characteristics of gene structure and found that 3 of the 22 genes do not contain an intron. Cis-element analysis of the promoter showed that most genes possessed at least one ABRE or MBS cis-element, and some genes owned the AuxRR-core, TCA-element, TC-rich repeats, and LTR cis-element. The Ka:Ks ratio of eight segmentally duplicated gene pairs demonstrated that the gene families had undergone a purifying selection. Then, the transcription levels of were analyzed, and they showed great differences in diverse tissues as well as abiotic stresses. Furthermore, regulatory networks were constructed through the prediction of ZmIDD-targeted genes and miRNAs, which can inhibit the transcription of . In total, 6 and 22 miRNAs were discovered, which can target 180 genes and depress the expression of 9 , respectively. Taken together, the results give us valuable information for studying the function of ZmIDDs involved in plant development and climate resilience in maize.