Identification and characterization of Dof genes in Cerasus humilis

Weili Liu; Weichao Ren; Xiubo Liu; Lianqing He; Chen Qin; Panpan Wang; Lingyang Kong; Yang Li; Yunwei Liu; Wei Ma

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1152685

Identification and characterization of Dof genes in Cerasus humilis

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Apr 3:14:1152685. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1152685. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Weili Liu^{1

2}, Weichao Ren¹, Xiubo Liu^{1

3}, Lianqing He¹, Chen Qin¹, Panpan Wang¹, Lingyang Kong¹, Yang Li⁴, Yunwei Liu⁴, Wei Ma^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
² Experimental Teaching and Training Center, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
³ School of Jiamusi, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Jiamusi, China.
⁴ Berry Resource Research Center, Yichun Branch of Heilongjiang Academy of Forestry, Yichun, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Dof genes encode plant-specific transcription factors, which regulate various biological processes such as growth, development, and secondary metabolite accumulation.

Methods: We conducted whole-genome analysis of Chinese dwarf cherry (Cerasus humilis) to identify ChDof genes and characterize the structure, motif composition, cis-acting elements, chromosomal distribution, and collinearity of these genes as well as the physical and chemical properties, amino acid sequences, and phylogenetic evolution of the encoded proteins.

Results: The results revealed the presence of 25 ChDof genes in C. humilis genome. All 25 ChDof genes could be divided into eight groups, and the members of the same group had similar motif arrangement and intron-exon structure. Promoter analysis showed that cis-acting elements responsive to abscisic acid, low temperature stress, and light were dominant. Transcriptome data revealed that most ChDof genes exhibited tissue-specific expression. Then, we performed by qRT-PCR to analyze the expression patterns of all 25 ChDof genes in fruit during storage. The results indicated that these genes exhibited different expression patterns, suggesting that they played an important role in fruit storage.

Discussion: The results of this study provide a basis for further investigation of the biological function of Dof genes in C. humilis fruit.

Keywords: Cerasus humilis; DOF; fruit storage; gene expression analysis; transcription factor.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFD1600901, 2021YFD1600902), Special Fund of Heilongjiang Provincial Finance Department (2017-2), Science and technology project of Yichun City (G2019-5), Talent training project supported by the central government for the reform and development of local colleges and Universities (ZYRCB2021008) and Heilongjiang Touyan Innovation Team Program (HLJTYTP2019001).