Sun Jing, Zhou Zekun, Meng Fanqing, Wen Mengyun, Liu Aizhong, Yu Anmin
Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China.
Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 May 14;16:1589915. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1589915. eCollection 2025.
The gene family plays a pivotal role in regulating floral organ development and various aspects of plant growth. Despite its well-established importance in many species, the function and evolution of genes in (castor) remain unexplored. This study presents an extensive genome-wide analysis of the gene family in castor, covering their physicochemical characteristics, phylogenetics, gene architecture, chromosomal distribution, evolutionary dynamics, expression profiles, and co-expression networks. In total, 56 genes were categorized into two main phylogenetic groups: type-I and type-II, which were further subdivided into three and two subgroups, respectively. Segmental duplication was found to be the primary driver of gene expansion in castor, while purifying selection was evident across the entire gene family, as indicated by the / ratio. In-depth analyses of gene expression, promoter motifs, co-expression networks, and experimental validation (Y1H assays and qRT-PCR) revealed that and 1 are key regulators of castor seed development, with may involve in seed coat formation and in oil accumulation. This study not only provides the first detailed insight into the evolutionary and functional landscape of genes in castor, but also establishes a foundation for future investigations into the role of these genes in seed and organ development, both in castor and other plant species.
该基因家族在调控花器官发育和植物生长的各个方面起着关键作用。尽管其在许多物种中的重要性已得到充分确立，但蓖麻中该基因的功能和进化仍未被探索。本研究对蓖麻中的该基因家族进行了广泛的全基因组分析，涵盖了它们的理化特性、系统发育、基因结构、染色体分布、进化动态、表达谱和共表达网络。总共56个该基因被分为两个主要的系统发育组：I型和II型，它们又分别进一步细分为三个和两个亚组。片段重复被发现是蓖麻中该基因扩增的主要驱动力，而如/比率所示，纯化选择在整个基因家族中很明显。对基因表达、启动子基序、共表达网络的深入分析以及实验验证（酵母单杂交试验和qRT-PCR）表明，和1是蓖麻种子发育的关键调节因子，可能参与种皮形成，而参与油脂积累。本研究不仅首次详细洞察了蓖麻中该基因的进化和功能格局，也为未来研究这些基因在蓖麻和其他植物物种的种子及器官发育中的作用奠定了基础。
