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.
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, 271018, People's Republic of China.
Fengjuan
F
Jia
Bingjiang
B
Wu
Hui
H
Li
Jinguang
J
Huang
Chengchao
C
Zheng
D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D019295:Computational Biology; D044783:F-Box Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D040342:Genetic Structures; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D005810:Multigene Family; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
D044783:F-Box Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant