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Genome-Wide Analysis of the Growth-Regulating Factor Family in Medicago truncatula

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Abstract

Growth-regulating factor (GRF) exerts important functions related to plant development and stress response. However, in Medicago truncatula, the GRF family has not been comprehensively analyzed at the genome level. This study identified eight MtGRF genes (containing both QLQ and WRC domains) in the M. truncatula genome, and no duplicate events occurred between these genes. Gene expression analysis showed that MtGRFs exhibited the highest expression in shoot apical meristems (SAM) followed by seeds, flowers, roots, etc. MtGRF2-6 and MtGRF8 were induced by GA, IAA, and ABA, and MtGRF2 and MtGRF5 also responded to MeJA. Additionally, eight, five, and seven MtGRF genes were differentially expressed under drought, salt, and cold stress, respectively. Five MtGRF genes (MtGRF1, 2, 6, 7, and 8) responded to all three types of stresses, especially MtGRF8, the expression of which was inhibited under drought, salt, and cold stress. These results indicated that MtGRF8 may be a negative regulator of the stress response. Degradome analysis showed that all eight MtGRFs were the target genes of Mt-miR396, and MtGRF4 may be jointly regulated by Mt-miR396 and other microRNAs. These results will contribute to the understanding of the GRF family in M. truncatula.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financed by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32060069), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (Grant No. 20202BABL205023 and No. 20212ACB215004), and the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (Grant No. 212300410352).

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Author notes

  1. Hua Li, Taotao Qiu, Zhaosheng Zhou, and Liqing Kang have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Biological Sciences and Engineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, People’s Republic of China

    Taotao Qiu, Liqing Kang, Rongrong Chen, Liming Zeng, Hongyang Yu, Yihua Wang & Jianbo Song

  2. College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, People’s Republic of China

    Hua Li

  3. Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Marine Biology, College of Resources and Environmental Science, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Zhaosheng Zhou

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  1. Hua Li
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Contributions

HL, TQ, and ZZ carried out data collection and bioinformatics analysis. RC and LZ performed the biological experiment. HY prepared the plant sample. HL, YW, and JS designed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. TQ and LK carried out the revisions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yihua Wang or Jianbo Song.

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Li, H., Qiu, T., Zhou, Z. et al. Genome-Wide Analysis of the Growth-Regulating Factor Family in Medicago truncatula. J Plant Growth Regul 42, 2305–2316 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-022-10704-3

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