Abstract
Bletilla striata (Thunb. ex A. Murray) Rchb. f., a species of the perennial herb Orchidaceae, has potent anti-inflammatory and antiviral biological activities. MADS-box transcription factors play critical roles in the various developmental processes of plants. Although this gene family has been extensively investigated in many species, it has not been analyzed for B. striata. In total, 45 MADS-box genes were identified from B. striata in this study, which were classified into five subfamilies (Mδ, MIKC, Mα, Mβ, and Mγ). Meanwhile, the highly correlated protein domains, motif compositions, and exon–intron structures of BsMADSs were investigated according to local B. striata databases. Chromosome distribution and synteny analyses revealed that segmental duplication and homologous exchange were the main BsMADSs expansion mechanisms. Further, RT-qPCR analysis revealed that BsMADSs had different expression patterns in response to various stress treatments. Our results provide a potential theoretical basis for further investigation of the functions of MADS genes during the growth of B. striata.
Highlights
MADS-box transcription factors are important regulators that participate in several plant growth processes, seed development, and in response to abiotic stress [1,2,3,4,5,6]
A total of 45 presumed MADS proteins were searched from the B. striata protein databases using the BLASTP program with 146 AtMADS (70 M-type MADS and 76 MIKC MADS) proteins as queries
The basic features of the BsMADSs were predicted, and the coding sequence (CDS) lengths of 45 BsMADS genes ranged from 438 bp (BsMADS41) to 8612 bp (BsMADS14); the proteins encoded would potentially include from 75 (BsMADS45) to 433 amino acids (BsMADS20)
Summary
MADS-box transcription factors are important regulators that participate in several plant growth processes, seed development, and in response to abiotic stress [1,2,3,4,5,6]. All MADS-box gene family members contain a DNA-binding domain of ~60 amino acids, known as the MADS-box domain, located at the N-terminal region of the protein [18]. In A. thaliana, the gene family can be sub-divided into two classes based on gene structure: type I (Mα, Mβ, Mγ, and Mδ) and type II (MIKC) [19]. This diversity is primarily caused by a gene duplication event [20]. The plant type II genes contain highly conserved MADS domains—of which the K-domain is essential for functional diversity and protein–protein interactions [21]—while type I MADS-box genes have a relatively simple structure and lack a K-domain. The MADS-box genes in type II have been well documented and extensively studied, few reports exist that describe type I MADS-box genes in plants [22,23,24]
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