Abstract
BackgroundAs the key regulators in BR signaling, BES1 family genes regulate thousands of target genes involved in various development processes. So far, the functions of BES1 family are poorly understood in tomato, and a comprehensive genomic and expressional analysis is worth to conduct for this family.ResultsHere, nine SlBES1 family members were identified in tomato and classified into five groups based on the conserved motif, gene structure and phylogenetic analysis. Synteny among tomato, Arabidopsis, pepper and rice were further analyzed to obtain insights into evolutionary characteristics. Several cis-elements related to hormone, stress and plant development were exhibited in the promoter regions of SlBES1 family genes. Subcellular localization showed seven members localized both in the nucleus and cytoplasm, implying the presence of dephosphorylated and phosphorylated form of these seven proteins, furthermore, five of them possessed transcription activation activity whereas the left two functioned as transcriptional repressors. Another two members, however, neither localized in the nucleus nor had transactivation activity. Besides, SlBES1.8 showed flower-specific expression while other members expressed ubiquitously in all organs. Moreover, SlBES1 genes exhibited variational expression in response to nine principal plant hormones. Notably, the expression levels of SlBES1 genes presented a dominant downregulated trend in response to stresses.ConclusionsIn this study, we systematically analyzed the genomic characterization of SlBES1 family, together with the analyses of protein functional features and expression patterns, our results lay a foundation for the functional research of SlBES1 family.
Highlights
As the key regulators in BR signaling, BRASSINOSTEROID-INSENSITIVE 1 (BRI1)-EMSSUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1) family genes regulate thousands of target genes involved in various development processes
Identification and characterization of SlBES1 gene family To identify BRI1-EMSSUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1) gene family in tomato, the conserved BES1-type domain sequence collected from AtBES1 was used as a BLASTP query in Solanaceae Genomics Database
Nine BES1 genes were identified in tomato (Table 1), in which seven members were confirmed acting as transcription factors (TFs) by combining the investigation of subcellular localization and transactivation activity whereas another two members were not (Figs. 5, 6)
Summary
As the key regulators in BR signaling, BES1 family genes regulate thousands of target genes involved in various development processes. Plant growth and development are continuously regulated by the integration of plant hormones. Their yield and quality are often influenced by various of environmental stimuli including biotic and abiotic stresses. A series of kinases and phosphatases in the pathway are successively triggered to fulfil their functions, resulting the dephosphorylation and activation of two homologous transcription factors, BRI1-EMSSUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1) and BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTAN T 1 (BZR1) [10,11,12,13], which in turn regulate thousands of target genes by binding to the E-box (CANNTG) or BRresponse element (BRRE, CGTGT/CG) [14, 15]
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