Abstract
BackgroundStudies have demonstrated that BBX (B-BOX) genes play crucial roles in regulatory networks controlling plant growth, developmental processes and stress response. Nevertheless, comprehensive study of BBX genes in orchids (Orchidaceae) is not well studied. The newly released genome sequences of Dendrobium officinale and Phalaenopsis equestris have allowed a systematic analysis of these important BBX genes in orchids.ResultsHere we identified 19 (DoBBX01–19) and 16 (PeBBX01–16) BBX genes from D. officinale and P. equestris, respectively, and clustered into five clades (I-V) according to phylogenetic analysis. Thirteen orthologous, two DoBBXs paralogous and two PeBBXs paralogous gene pairs were validated. This gene family mainly underwent purifying selection, but five domains experienced positive selection during evolution. Noteworthy, the expression patterns of root, root_tips, stem, leaf, speal, column, lip, and flower_buds revealed that they might contribution to the formation of these tissues. According to the cis-regulatory elements analysis of BBX genes, qRT-PCR experiments were carried out using D. officinale PLBs (protocorm-like bodies) and displayed that these BBX genes were differentially regulated under AgNO3, MeJA (Methyl Jasmonate), ABA (abscisic acid) and SA (salicylic acid) treatments.ConclusionsOur analysis exposed that DoBBX genes play significant roles in plant growth and development, and response to different environmental stress conditions of D. officinale, which provide aid in the selection of appropriate candidate genes for further functional characterization of BBX genes in plants.
Highlights
Studies have demonstrated that BBX (B-BOX) genes play crucial roles in regulatory networks controlling plant growth, developmental processes and stress response
To further understand the B-BOX gene family in orchids, we respectively identified all 19 and 16 BBX members in Dendrobium officinale and Phalaenopsis equestris, and analyzed their phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, cis-regulatory elements, tissue expression patterns, as well as expression profiles under AgNO3, MeJA (Methyl Jasmonate), Abscisic acid (ABA) and Salicylic acid (SA) treatments
The BBX gene family members in D. officinale and P. equestris A total of 24 and 22 B-BOX (BBX) coding protein sequences were identified in D. officinale and P. equestris, respectively, with the BLASTP program and HMMER software
Summary
Studies have demonstrated that BBX (B-BOX) genes play crucial roles in regulatory networks controlling plant growth, developmental processes and stress response. Zinc-finger proteins play important roles in regulate of plant growth development, and biotic and abiotic stress [1, 2]. The B-BOX domain might be involved in the interaction between zinc-finger proteins and other proteins [3, 5]. The BBOX domain was considered to be involved in protein interactions, the function of B-BOX proteins in plants is not well clear. The B-BOX proteins STH3 (SALT TOLERANCE HOMOLOG03) and BBX22 of A. thaliana could interact with two key regulators of the light signaling pathway, HY5 and COPI, to regulate plant lightdependent developmental processes [7, 9,10,11]. OsBBX25 might regulate the expression of stress response-related genes as a cofactor of transcriptional regulation, and participate in plant response to abiotic stress [12, 13]
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