Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of the ALKB Homolog Gene Family in Potato ( L.).

-methyladenosine (mA) is an abundant and pervasive post-transcriptional modification in eukaryotic mRNAs. AlkB homolog (ALKBH) proteins play crucial roles in RNA metabolism and translation, participating in mA methylation modification to regulate plant development. However, no comprehensive investigations have been conducted on in potato. Here, 11 family genes were identified in potato and renamed according to BLASTP and phylogenetic analyses following the genome. The characteristics, sequence structures, motif compositions, phylogenetics, chromosomal locations, synteny, and promoter -acting element predictions were analyzed, revealing distinct evolutionary relationships between potato and other species (tomato and ). Homologous proteins were classified into seven groups depending on similar conserved domains, which implies that they possess a potentially comparable function. Moreover, the s were ubiquitous, and their expression was examined in the various tissues of a whole potato, in which the genes, except for were most highly expressed in the stolon and flower. Multiple hormone and stress-response elements were found to be located in the promoters of the genes. Further qRT-PCR results suggest that they may be significantly upregulated in response to phytohormones and abiotic stress (except for cold), and the expression of most of the genes exhibited positively modulated trends. Overall, this study is the first to report a genome-wide assessment of the family in potato, providing valuable insights into candidate gene selection and facilitating in-depth functional analyses of ALKBH-mediated mA methylation mechanisms in potato.