Identification and Molecular Characterization of the CAMTA Gene Family in Solanaceae with a Focus on the Expression Analysis of Eggplant Genes under Cold Stress.

Calmodulin-binding transcription activator (CAMTA) is an important calmodulin-binding protein with a conserved structure in eukaryotes which is widely involved in plant stress response, growth and development, hormone signal transduction, and other biological processes. Although genes have been identified and characterized in many plant species, a systematic and comprehensive analysis of genes in the Solanaceae genome is performed for the first time in this study. A total of 28 genes were identified using bioinformatics tools, and the biochemical/physicochemical properties of these proteins were investigated. genes were categorized into three major groups according to phylogenetic analysis. Tissue-expression profiles indicated divergent spatiotemporal expression patterns of . Furthermore, transcriptome analysis of genes showed that exposure to cold induced differential expression of many eggplant genes. Yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescent complementary assays suggested an interaction between SmCAMTA2 and SmERF1, promoting the transcription of the cold key factor , which may be an important mechanism for plant cold resistance. In summary, our results provide essential information for further functional research on Solanaceae family genes, and possibly other plant families, in the determination of the development of plants.