Gu Lei, Kang Tianyu, Zeng Tuo, Wang Hongcheng, Zhu Bin, Du Xuye, Liu Yinglang
School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, 550025, China.
Guizhou Key Laboratory of Forest Cultivation in Plateau Mountain, Guiyang, 550025, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2025 May 30;25(1):731. doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-06783-5.
Maize is an important crop. The cysteine-rich polycomb-like protein (CPP) is crucial for plant development and abiotic stress response. However, few reports have been reported on the function of ZmCPPs. This study conducted bioinformatics and expression analyses of the ZmCPP gene family.
Based on the homologous comparison methods, 12 ZmCPPs were identified in the last assembly of maize B73 genome (V5). They were unevenly distributed across six maize chromosomes. Six ZmCPPs formed 3 groups due to segmental but no tandem duplication, indicating segmental duplication as the key driving force of the ZmCPPs family expansion. Homologous evolutionary analysis classified 12 ZmCPPs into three groups, with each containing four members. ZmCPP gene structure and protein motif in the same group were highly conserved. The promoter regions of 12 ZmCPP genes containing plant growth, hormone, and abiotic stress-responsive elements. RNA-seq data indicated that the expression pattern of ZmCPPs exhibited organizational specificity and the ZmCPPs transcript levels could be influenced by abiotic/biotic stresses. RT-qPCR analysis of six ZmCPPs (ZmCPP2/4/8/9/11/12) showed that the expression of ZmCPPs were induced or reduced by short-term heat, cold, dehydration, and waterlogging stresses. Furthermore, ZmCPP2/9 was localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus, without transactivation activity in yeast.
Taken together, the comprehensive analysis of ZmCPPs in the whole genome provides a novel perspective on the evolutionary relationship among ZmCPP genes and lays a foundation for further study of the biological functions of ZmCPPs.
玉米是一种重要的作物。富含半胱氨酸的多梳样蛋白（CPP）对植物发育和非生物胁迫响应至关重要。然而，关于ZmCPPs功能的报道较少。本研究对ZmCPP基因家族进行了生物信息学和表达分析。
基于同源比较方法，在玉米B73基因组（V5）的最新组装中鉴定出12个ZmCPPs。它们不均匀地分布在六条玉米染色体上。由于片段重复而非串联重复，六个ZmCPPs形成了3组，表明片段重复是ZmCPPs家族扩张的关键驱动力。同源进化分析将12个ZmCPPs分为三组，每组包含四个成员。同一组中的ZmCPP基因结构和蛋白质基序高度保守。12个ZmCPP基因的启动子区域包含植物生长、激素和非生物胁迫响应元件。RNA测序数据表明，ZmCPPs的表达模式具有组织特异性，并且ZmCPPs的转录水平可能受到非生物/生物胁迫的影响。对六个ZmCPPs（ZmCPP2/4/8/9/11/12）的RT-qPCR分析表明，短期热、冷、脱水和涝渍胁迫可诱导或降低ZmCPPs的表达。此外，ZmCPP2/9定位于细胞质和细胞核，在酵母中无反式激活活性。
总之，对ZmCPPs的全基因组综合分析为ZmCPP基因之间的进化关系提供了新的视角，并为进一步研究ZmCPPs的生物学功能奠定了基础。
