Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of WD40 Family and Its Expression in at Different Coloring Stages.

WD40 proteins play important roles in the synthesis and regulation of anthocyanin, the regulation of plant morphology and development, and the response to various abiotic stresses. However, the role of WD40 in () has not been studied. In this study, a total of 216 FvWD40 family members were identified, which were divided into four subfamilies based on evolutionary tree analysis. Subcellular localization predictions show that FvWD40 family members are mainly localized in chloroplasts, nuclei, and cytoplasm. An analysis of collinearity revealed a total of eight pairs of intraspecific collinearity of the gene family, and interspecific collinearity showed that the gene family covaried more gene pairs with () than with rice (). Promoter cis-acting elements revealed that the gene family contains predominantly light, hormone, and abiotic stress response elements. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed that a number of members including and were highly expressed in all tissues, and a number or members including and were lowly expressed in all tissues. The gene family was found to be expressed at all four different coloring stages of by qRT-PCR, with lower expression at the 50% coloring stage (S3). , , and showed the highest expression during the white fruit stage (S1) period, suggesting that these genes play a potential regulatory role in the pre-fruit coloring stage. , and had the highest expression at the 20% coloration stage (S2), and , , and had the highest expression at the full coloration stage (S4). These results suggest a potential role for these genes during fruit coloration. This study lays a foundation for further research on the function of the gene family.