Abstract
BackgroundPlant Trihelix transcription factors, specifically bind to GT elements and play important roles in plant physiology and development. Wheat is a main cereal crop. Brachypodium distachyon is a close relative of wheat and has been described as a new model species for studying of grass functional genomics. Presently, little is known about wheat and B. distachyon Trihelix genes.ResultsIn 51 species, 2387 Trihelix genes were identified, including 80 wheat Trihelix genes and 27 B. distachyon Trihelix genes. Consistent with the results of previous studies, these genes were classified into five subfamilies: GT-1, GT-2, SIP1, GTγ, and SH4. Members of the same subfamily shared similar gene structures and common motifs. Most TaGT and BdGT genes contained many kinds of cis-elements, such as development-, stress-, and phytohormone-related cis-acting elements. Additionally, 21 randomly selected TaGT genes were mainly expressed in the roots and flowers, while the expression of 19 selected BdGT genes was constitutive. These results indicate that the roles of Trihelix genes in wheat and B. distachyon might have diversified during the evolutionary process. The expression of the most selected TaGT and BdGT genes was down-regulated when exposed to low temperatures, NaCl, ABA, and PEG, implying that TaGT and BdGT genes negatively respond to abiotic stress. On the contrary, the expression of some genes was up-regulated under heat stress.ConclusionsTrihelix genes exist extensively in plants and have many functions. During the evolutionary process, this gene family expanded and their functions diversified. As a result, the expression pattern and functions of members of the same family might be different. This study lays a foundation for further functional analyses of TaGT and BdGT genes.
Highlights
Plant Trihelix transcription factors, bind to GT elements and play important roles in plant physiology and development
21 randomly selected TaGT genes were mainly expressed in the roots and flowers, while the expression of 19 selected BdGT genes was constitutive
These results indicate that the roles of Trihelix genes in wheat and B. distachyon might have diversified during the evolutionary process
Summary
A total of 80 TaGT and 27 BdGT TFs were identified. Most of them (70 TaGT and 23 BdGT genes) were verified by ESTs (Additional files 1 and 2). Many hydrophobic amino acids (tryptophan, leucine, valine, tyrosine) were found in TaGT and BdGT proteins. Consistent with these results, most TaGT and. To study the evolutionary relationships of Trihelix genes in Gramineae plants, un-rooted Neighbor-joining (NJ) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) phylogenetic trees were constructed using 249 putative Trihelix proteins of wheat, B. distachyon, maize, rice, sorghum, and barley (Additional file 8). Results of these two trees were consistent (Additional file 9; Fig. 2). Similar to TaGT genes, BdGT genes in the subfamily GTγ had one exon (Fig. 4)
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