Abstract
TCP is a plant-specific transcription factor that plays an important role in flowering, leaf development and other physiological processes. In this study, we identified a total of 155 TCP genes: 34 in Pyrus bretschneideri, 19 in Fragaria vesca, 52 in Malus domestica, 19 in Prunus mume, 17 in Rubus occidentalis and 14 in Prunus avium. The evolutionary relationship of the TCP gene family was examined by constructing a phylogenetic tree, tracking gene duplication events, performing a sliding window analysis. The expression profile analysis and qRT-PCR results of different tissues showed that PbTCP10 were highly expressed in the flowers. These results indicated that PbTCP10 might participated in flowering induction in pear. Expression pattern analysis of different developmental stages showed that PbTCP14 and PbTCP15 were similar to the accumulation pattern of fruit lignin and the stone cell content. These two genes might participate in the thickening of the secondary wall during the formation of stone cells in pear. Subcellular localization showed that PbTCPs worked in the nucleus. This study explored the evolution of TCP genes in six Rosaceae species, and the expression pattern of TCP genes in different tissues of “Dangshan Su” pear. Candidate genes related to flower induction and stone cell formation were identified. In summary, our research provided an important theoretical basis for improving pear fruit quality and increasing fruit yield by molecular breeding.
Highlights
TCP (TEOSINTE BRANCHED I, CYCLOIDEA, PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR I) transcription factors are unique to plants and play an important role in all aspects of plant growth and development (Uberti-Manassero et al, 2016; Lucero et al, 2017)
The phylogenetic tree was divided into two subgroups: PCF was in Class I, CIN, and CYC were in Class II (Figure 1)
The results showed that PbTCP14, 15, 23, and 24 increased firstly and decreased during fruit development, which was consistent with the trend of stone cell formation, but only PbTCP14 and PbTCP15 were highly expressed in the early stage of fruit development
Summary
TCP (TEOSINTE BRANCHED I, CYCLOIDEA, PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR I) transcription factors are unique to plants and play an important role in all aspects of plant growth and development (Uberti-Manassero et al, 2016; Lucero et al, 2017). The amino acid sequences encoded by members of the TCP family generally have a basic helix loop helix structure. The second helical region has a specific LXXLL motif, which can interact with DNA or protein. Based on their structures, the TCP family can be divided into two subfamilies. Class I, the TCP-P subfamily, is called PCF subfamily. Class II, the TCP-C subfamily, includes CYC/TB1, and CIN. The most significant difference between the two subfamilies is that PCF subfamily lacks four amino acids in TCP Family Gene Analysis the basic region, and the members of CYC/TB1 subfamily contain a hydrophilic α helix (R domain) rich in polar amino acids which does not exist in other members (Cubas et al, 1999)
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