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Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the B-box gene family in the Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) genome

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Abstract

The B-box proteins (BBXs) are a family of zinc finger proteins containing one/two B-box domain(s). Compared with intensive studies of animal BBXs, investigations of the plant BBX family are limited, though some specific plant BBXs have been demonstrated to act as transcription factors in the regulation of flowering and photomorphogenesis. In this study, using a global search of the apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) genome, a total of 64 members of BBX (MdBBX) were identified. All the MdBBXs were divided into five groups based on the phylogenetic relationship, numbers of B-boxes contained and whether there was with an additional CCT domain. According to the characteristics of organ-specific expression, MdBBXs were divided into three groups based on the microarray information. An analysis of cis-acting elements showed that elements related to the stress response were prevalent in the promoter sequences of most MdBBXs. Twelve MdBBX members from different groups were randomly selected and exposed to abiotic stresses. Their expressions were up-regulated to some extent in the roots and leaves. Six among 12 MdBBXs were sensitive to osmotic pressure, salt, cold stress and exogenous abscisic acid treatment, with their expressions enhanced more than 20-fold. Our results suggested that MdBBXs may take part in response to abiotic stress.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Special Research Fund of Public Welfare of China Agricultural Ministry (201303093).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Shandong Taian, 271018, People’s Republic of China

    Xin Liu, Rong Li, Yaqing Dai, Xuesen Chen & Xiaoyun Wang

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  1. Xin Liu
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  2. Rong Li
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  3. Yaqing Dai
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  4. Xuesen Chen
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  5. Xiaoyun Wang
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Contributions

Designed the experiments: XYW and XL. Performed the experiments: XL, RL and YQD. Analyzed the data: XL, RL,YQD and XSC. Wrote the paper: XYW and XL. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaoyun Wang.

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This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Communicated by S. Hohmann.

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Liu, X., Li, R., Dai, Y. et al. Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the B-box gene family in the Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) genome. Mol Genet Genomics 293, 303–315 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-017-1386-1

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