Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Patterns of the C2H2-Zinc Finger Gene Family Related to Stress Responses and Catechins Accumulation in Camellia sinensis [L.] O. Kuntze.

Shiyang Zhang,Bo Wang,Guixian Zhong,Junjie Liu

doi:10.3390/ijms22084197

Shiyang Zhang, Bo Wang + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22084197

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Abstract

The C2H2-zinc finger protein (C2H2-ZFP) is essential for the regulation of plant development and widely responsive to diverse stresses including drought, cold and salt stress, further affecting the late flavonoid accumulation in higher plants. Tea is known as a popular beverage worldwide and its quality is greatly dependent on the physiological status and growing environment of the tea plant. To date, the understanding of C2H2-ZFP gene family in Camellia sinensis [L.] O. Kuntze is not yet available. In the present study, 134 CsC2H2-ZFP genes were identified and randomly distributed on 15 chromosomes. The CsC2H2-ZFP gene family was classified into four clades and gene structures and motif compositions of CsC2H2-ZFPs were similar within the same clade. Segmental duplication and negative selection were the main forces driving the expansion of the CsC2H2-ZFP gene family. Expression patterns suggested that CsC2H2-ZFPs were responsive to different stresses including drought, salt, cold and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment. Specially, several C2H2-ZFPs showed a significant correlation with the catechins content and responded to the MeJA treatment, which might contribute to the tea quality and specialized astringent taste. This study will lay the foundations for further research of C2H2-type zinc finger proteins on the stress responses and quality-related metabolites accumulation in C. sinensis.

Highlights

Introduction(C2H2)-type zinc finger protein family (C2H2-ZFP) is composed of two cysteines and two histidines in a conserved sequence motif (CX2–4 CX3 PX5 LX2 HX3–5 H) [1,2]
As the abundant transcriptional regulator in higher plants, the cysteine-2/histidine-2(C2H2)-type zinc finger protein family (C2H2-ZFP) is composed of two cysteines and two histidines in a conserved sequence motif (CX2–4 CX3 PX5 LX2 HX3–5 H) [1,2]
CsC2H2-ZFPs were found in response to multiple stresses, including drought, cold, salt stress, and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment according to the public genome database

Summary

Introduction

(C2H2)-type zinc finger protein family (C2H2-ZFP) is composed of two cysteines and two histidines in a conserved sequence motif (CX2–4 CX3 PX5 LX2 HX3–5 H) [1,2]. The zinc atom binds to the conserved amino acids of C2H2-ZFP to form a compact structure that binds with the major groove of B-DNA and wraps partway around the double helix in a sequence-specific manner [3]. C2H2-ZFPs perform their function during the various stages of plant development, including trichome initiation and branching, floral organ development, and seed coat development, etc. ZFP8 (AT2G41940), GIS (AT3G58070) and GIS2 (AT5G06650) have been identified as essential regulators of trichome initiation and branching by mediating GLABROUS1 (GL1) expression in response to gibberellin and cytokinin in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh [4,5]. The C2H2-ZFP, POPOVICH, is crucial to the development of floral nectar spurs in the columbine genus

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