title: Expansion and stress responses of AP2/EREBP superfamily in Brachypodium distachyon.
abstract: APETALA2/ethylene-responsive element binding protein (AP2/EREBP) transcription factors constitute one of the largest and most conserved gene families in plant, and play essential roles in growth, development and stress response. Except a few members, the AP2/EREBP family has not been characterized in Brachypodium distachyon, a model plant of Poaceae. We performed a genome-wide study of this family in B. distachyon by phylogenetic analyses, transactivation assays and transcript profiling. A total of 149 AP2/EREBP genes were identified and divided into four subfamilies, i.e., ERF (ethylene responsive factor), DREB (dehydration responsive element binding gene), RAV (related to ABI3/VP) and AP2. Tandem duplication was a major force in expanding B. distachyon AP2/EREBP (BdAP2/EREBP) family. Despite a significant expansion, genomic organizations of BdAP2/EREBPs were monotonous as the majority of them, except those of AP2 subfamily, had no intron. An analysis of transcription activities of several closely related and duplicated BdDREB genes showed their functional divergence and redundancy in evolution. The expression of BdAP2/EREBPs in different tissues and the expression of DREB/ERF subfamilies in B. distachyon, wheat and rice under abiotic stresses were investigated by next-generation sequencing and microarray profiling. Our results are valuable for further function analysis of stress tolerant AP2/EREBP genes in B. distachyon.
authors: The Institute for Systems Biology, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China.
authors: Lihong
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan) HUST Part, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science &Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China.
authors: Jiapeng
authors: J
authors: Han
authors: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Resources of Rubber Tree/State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Cultivation and Physiology for Tropical Crops, Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou 571737, China.
authors: Xiaomin
authors: X
authors: Deng
authors: School of Information Engineering, Hubei University of Economics, Wuhan 430205, China.
authors: Shenglong
authors: S
authors: Tan
authors: The Institute for Systems Biology, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China.
authors: Lili
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: The Institute for Systems Biology, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China.
authors: Lun
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: The Institute for Systems Biology, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China.
authors: Junfei
authors: J
authors: Zhou
authors: The Institute for Systems Biology, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China.
authors: Hai
authors: H
authors: Peng
authors: The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan) HUST Part, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science &Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China.
authors: Guangxiao
authors: G
authors: Yang
authors: The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan) HUST Part, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science &Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China.
authors: Guangyuan
authors: G
authors: He
authors: The Institute for Systems Biology, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China.|Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Department of Genetics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 36130, USA.
authors: Weixiong
authors: W
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D058431:Brachypodium / Q000235:genetics*; D018744:DNA, Plant; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; C093680:ethylene-responsive element binding protein