GENOME-WIDE IDENTIFICATION OF THE GATA TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR FAMILY IN Dichanthelium oligosanthes

Abstract

The GATA transcription factors (TFs) play a crucial role in regulating various physiological processes in plants. Identification and characterization of the GATA TF family has been carried out in several important grass species, including rice, maize, and bamboo. However, no information is available on the GATA TFs in the C3 grass species Dichanthelium oligosanthes. In the current study, 31 GATA genes have been identified in the D. oligosanthes genome by stringent bioinformatics analysis. The exon-intron arrangement analysis of the DoGATAs via the Gene Structure Display Server (GSDS 2.0) revealed the redundancy and differences in their gene structural organization. In addition, the sequence comparisons within the DoGATAs via BLAST revealed 11 numbers of putative paralogs. Similarly, the BLAST comparisons among the OsGATAs and DoGATAs resulted in the identification of 21 orthologs. Structural analysis of the identified DoGATAs through Simple Modular Architecture Research Tool (SMART), Conserved Domain Database (CDD), and Multiple Expectation Maximization for Motif Elicitation (MEME) revealed that all of them possess the signature GATA domain and the C-X2-C-X18-C-X2-C consensus sequence. The phylogenetic analysis via MEGA divided the DoGATAs into four groups along with rice and Arabidopsis GATAs. In addition, the subcellular localization, gene ontology, and other peptide functional prediction results further supported the DoGATAs to be putative GATA genes. Moreover, the findings of this study can serve as a basic framework for the isolation and functional characterization of GATA genes in D. oligosanthes.