Institute of Horticulture, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230001, China.
Key Laboratory of Horticultural Crop Germplasm innovation and Utilization (Co-construction by Ministry and Province), Institute of Horticulture, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230001, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2023 Jul 10;23(1):354. doi: 10.1186/s12870-023-04362-0.
The APETALA 2/ ethylene-responsive element binding factors (AP2/ERF), are thought to be associated with plant abiotic stress response, and involved in some plant hormone signaling pathways. Trichosanthes kirilowii is an important edible and medicinal crop, so far no research has been conducted on the TkAP2/ERF genes.
In this study, a total of 135 TkERFs were identified, these genes were divided into 4 subfamilies and clustered into 13 groups. Moreover, 37 paralogous pairs were identified, with only two having Ka/Ks values greater than 1, proving that most TkERF genes underwent purifying selection during evolution. Co-expression networks constructed using transcriptome data at various flowering stages revealed that 50, 64, and 67 AP2/ERF genes correlated with members of the ethylene, gibberellin, and abscisic acid signaling pathways, respectively. When tissue cultured seedlings were treated with ETH, GA3 and ABA, 11, 12 and 17 genes were found to be up-regulated, respectively, suggesting that some members of the TkERF gene family may be involved in plant hormone signaling pathways. And under 4 ℃, PEG and NaCl treatment, 15, 20 and 19 genes were up-regulated, respectively, this suggested that these selected genes might be involved in plant abiotic stresses.
Overall, we identified 135 AP2/ERF family members, a comprehensive analysis of AP2/ERF gene expression patterns by RNA-seq and qRT-PCR showed that they played important roles in flower development and abiotic stress. This study provided a theoretical basis for the functional study of TkAP2/ERF genes and the genetic improvement of T. kirilowii.
APETALA 2/乙烯响应元件结合因子（AP2/ERF）被认为与植物非生物胁迫反应有关，并参与一些植物激素信号通路。栝楼是一种重要的食用和药用作物，迄今为止，尚未对 TkAP2/ERF 基因进行研究。
本研究共鉴定出 135 个 TkERF 基因，这些基因分为 4 个亚家族，聚类为 13 个组。此外，鉴定出 37 个同源基因对，只有两个具有 Ka/Ks 值大于 1，证明大多数 TkERF 基因在进化过程中经历了纯化选择。使用不同开花阶段的转录组数据构建的共表达网络显示，50、64 和 67 个 AP2/ERF 基因分别与乙烯、赤霉素和脱落酸信号通路的成员相关。当组织培养的幼苗用 ETH、GA3 和 ABA 处理时，分别发现 11、12 和 17 个基因上调，表明 TkERF 基因家族的一些成员可能参与植物激素信号通路。在 4℃、PEG 和 NaCl 处理下，分别上调了 15、20 和 19 个基因，表明这些选择的基因可能参与植物非生物胁迫。
总之，我们鉴定了 135 个 AP2/ERF 家族成员，通过 RNA-seq 和 qRT-PCR 对 AP2/ERF 基因表达模式的综合分析表明，它们在花发育和非生物胁迫中发挥重要作用。本研究为 TkAP2/ERF 基因的功能研究和栝楼的遗传改良提供了理论基础。
