title: Genome-wide identification of C2H2 zinc-finger gene family in rice and their phylogeny and expression analysis.
abstract: Transcription factors regulate gene expression in response to various external and internal cues by activating or suppressing downstream genes in a pathway. In this study, we provide a complete overview of the genes encoding C(2)H(2) zinc-finger transcription factors in rice, describing the gene structure, gene expression, genome localization, and phylogenetic relationship of each member. The genome of Oryza sativa codes for 189 C(2)H(2) zinc-finger transcription factors, which possess two main types of zinc-fingers (named C and Q). The Q-type zinc fingers contain a conserved motif, QALGGH, and are plant specific, whereas C type zinc fingers are found in other organisms as well. A genome-wide microarray based gene expression analysis involving 14 stages of vegetative and reproductive development along with 3 stress conditions has revealed that C(2)H(2) gene family in indica rice could be involved during all the stages of reproductive development from panicle initiation till seed maturation. A total of 39 genes are up-regulated more than 2-fold, in comparison to vegetative stages, during reproductive development of rice, out of which 18 are specific to panicle development and 12 genes are seed-specific. Twenty-six genes have been found to be up-regulated during three abiotic stresses and of these, 14 genes express specifically during the stress conditions analyzed while 12 are also up-regulated during reproductive development, suggesting that some components of the stress response pathways are also involved in reproduction.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Centre for Plant Genomics and Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi 110021, India.
authors.forename: Pinky
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Swatismita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Ashok K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Vijay P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takatsuji
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kapoor
authors.forename: Akhilesh K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Tyagi
mesh_terms: D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018745:Genome, Plant; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics*