Bioinformatic analysis of wheat defensin gene family and function verification of candidate genes.

Plant defensins are widely distributed in the leaves, fruits, roots, stems, seeds, and tubers. Research shows that defensin in plants play a significant role in physiological metabolism, growth and development. Plant defensins can kill and suppress a variety of pathogenic bacteria. In this study, we understand the phylogenetic relationships, protein characterization, chromosomal localization, promoter and gene structural features of the family through sequence alignment and conserved protein structural domain analysis. A total of 73 gene members in wheat, 15 genes in maize, and 11 genes in rice were identified. A total of 35, 65, and 34 gene members were identified in the genomes of , , and , respectively. and were constructed into pART27 vector with YFP by homologous recombination for subcellular localization analysis. Subcellular localization results showed that and were basically located in the cell membrane and cytoplasm, and was also located in the nucleus. and could inhibit the infection of strain '88069'. The results suggest that may be able to improve disease resistance. The study of wheat defensins will be beneficial for improving wheat yield and provides a theoretical basis for research on resistance to wheat diseases.