Identification of ERF genes in peanuts and functional analysis of AhERF008 and AhERF019 in abiotic stress response

Ethylene-responsive factor (ERF) play an important role in regulating gene expression in plant development and response to stresses. In peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.), which produce flowers aerially and pods underground, only a few ERF genes have been identified so far. This study identifies 63 ERF unigenes from 247,313 peanut EST sequences available in the NCBI database. The phylogeny, gene structures, and putative conserved motifs in the peanut ERF proteins were analysed. Comparative analysis revealed the absence of two subgroups (A1 and A3) of the ERF family in peanuts; only 10 subgroups were identified in peanuts compared to 12 subgroups in Arabidopsis and soybeans. AP2/ERF domains were found to be conserved among peanuts, Arabidopsis, and soybeans. Outside the AP2/ERF domain, many soybean-specific conserved motifs were also detected in peanuts. The expression analysis of ERF family genes representing each clade revealed differential expression patterns in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Overexpression of AhERF008 influenced the root gravity of Arabidopsis, whereas overexpression of AhERF019 enhanced tolerance to drought, heat, and salt stresses in Arabidopsis. The information generated in this study will be helpful to further investigate the function of ERFs in plant development and stress response.     

甘蓝型油菜中一类AP2/ERF转录因子的克隆和生物信息学分析

AP2/ERF转录因子家族是植物中广泛存在的一类转录因子,AP2/ERF这类转录因子主要参与植物的细胞周期、生长发育以及生物和非生物胁迫相关基因的表达调控。由于拟南芥和油菜同属于芸薹属,具有相似的基因信息,利用油菜UniGene数据库,以拟南芥ERF转录因子保守序列为探针,通过电子克隆从一个UniGene Cluster中分离得到三个同类的AP2/ERF转录因子,从cDNA序列、氨基酸序列的相似性、组成成分、理化性质、疏水性/亲水性分析、序列比对、进化树、功能域、二级结构、三级结构、无序化特性进行了预测和较为全面的分析。结果显示油菜来源的BnaERF1、BnaERF2和BnaERF3属于AP2/ERF转录因子的B-2亚族,是亲水性蛋白,在蛋白质的三级结构上与AtERF1相似。蛋白质无序化分析发现,油菜BnaERF1、BnaERF2和BnaERF3无序化程度小于拟南芥AtERF1。设计引物通过PCR和RT-PCR方法分别从甘蓝型双低油菜沪油15幼苗的DNA和cDNA中扩增了上述基因,初步分析BnaERF2没有内含子,BnaERF1和BnaERF3有内含子。另外,通过EST丰度分析显示,该类转录因子的表达最高峰在种子中,其次为花,在芽、茎和分生组织中没有检测出表达的存在。     

ERF转录因子在植物对生物和非生物胁迫反应中的作用

ERF（ethylene responsive factor）转录因子是植物AP2/ERF转录因子超家族的一个亚家族,其特征是蛋白序列中含有一个高度保守的58或59个氨基酸组成的ERF结构域,广泛参与植物生长发育及各种逆境胁迫反应的调控。文章简要介绍ERF转录因子在植物抗生物和非生物胁迫反应中的作用及其可能机制,并讨论了今后的研究重点。     

苹果DREB转录因子家族全基因组鉴定与分析

DREB转录因子属于AP2/ERF转录因子家族,能够与DRE/CRT顺式作用元件特异性结合,调控与逆境应答基因的表达,因而在植物应对低温、干旱、高盐等逆境胁迫中发挥重要作用。该研究利用苹果全基因组数据,通过生物信息学手段鉴定苹果DREB转录因子家族成员,并分析DREB转录因子家族保守域特点与功能及表达情况。结果表明:从苹果全基因组中共鉴定出60个DREB转录因子家族成员,与拟南芥和水稻相比基本一致,通过引入拟南芥DREB基因进行系统发生分析,进一步可以将其细分为6个亚组;结构域和保守元件分析表明,DREB基因家族含有一个AP2保守结构域;染色体定位表明,苹果DREB基因分布于11条染色体上,部分基因存在串联复制现象;基因结构分析显示,该亚家族基因不含内含子。利用同源拟南芥RNA-Seq数据分析结果表明,DREB转录因子家族对低温、ABA调节等非生物胁迫具有调控作用,同时在DREB亚家族中每个亚组响应不同的非生物胁迫;通过分析DREB基因在不同组织中的表达情况,结果显示DREB基因在植物根部中的表达量最强,其次是叶。     

抗逆相关AP2/EREBP转录因子研究进展

干旱、低温、土地盐碱化等非生物胁迫是影响植物生长发育以及作物产量的重要因素。近年来大量研究表明,多种转录因子参与调控植物对各种生物及非生物胁迫的应答与防御反应,与此同时人们对其作用机理的探索也日渐深入。AP2/ERF转录因子家族是植物所特有的一类转录因子,在拟南芥中该家族至少有146个成员;而在水稻中该基因家族多达181个,是已知水稻转录因子基因中最大的家族。这些编码含有一个保守APETALA(AP2)结构域的蛋白质可能在植物多个发育过程及应答外界环境信号过程中发挥重要功能。综述了AP2/EREBP类转录因子的结构特征及其功能特性,并重点讨论了它们在植物抗逆中的调控作用及其在植物抗逆性分子遗传改良上的意义。     

Genome-wide identification and characterisation of F-box family in maize

F-box-containing proteins, as the key components of the protein degradation machinery, are widely distributed in higher plants and are considered as one of the largest known families of regulatory proteins. The F-box protein family plays a crucial role in plant growth and development and in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, systematic analysis of the F-box family in maize (Zea mays) has not been reported yet. In this paper, we identified and characterised the maize F-box genes in a genome-wide scale, including phylogenetic analysis, chromosome distribution, gene structure, promoter analysis and gene expression profiles. A total of 359 F-box genes were identified and divided into 15 subgroups by phylogenetic analysis. The F-box domain was relatively conserved, whereas additional motifs outside the F-box domain may indicate the functional diversification of maize F-box genes. These genes were unevenly distributed in ten maize chromosomes, suggesting that they expanded in the maize genome because of tandem and segmental duplication events. The expression profiles suggested that the maize F-box genes had temporal and spatial expression patterns. Putative cis-acting regulatory DNA elements involved in abiotic stresses were observed in maize F-box gene promoters. The gene expression profiles under abiotic stresses also suggested that some genes participated in stress responsive pathways. Furthermore, ten genes were chosen for quantitative real-time PCR analysis under drought stress and the results were consistent with the microarray data. This study has produced a comparative genomics analysis of the maize ZmFBX gene family that can be used in further studies to uncover their roles in maize growth and development.