Genome-Wide Analyses of the Genetic Screening of C2H2-Type Zinc Finger Transcription Factors and Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Based on RNA-Seq Data.

Tingting Zhao,Xiangyang Xu,Tong Pei,Ziyu Wang,Jingfu Li,Huanhuan Yang,Jia Zhang,Tairu Wu

doi:10.3389/fgene.2020.00540

Abstract

C2H2-type zinc finger proteins are classic and extensively studied members of the zinc finger family. C2H2-type zinc finger proteins participate in plant growth, development and stress responses. In this study, 99 C2H2-type zinc finger protein genes were identified and classified into four groups, and many functionally related cis-elements were identified. Differential C2H2-ZFP gene expression and specific responses were analyzed under drought, cold, salt, and pathogen stresses based on RNA-Seq data. Thirty-two C2H2 genes were identified in response to multiple stresses. Seven, 3, 5, and 8 genes were specifically expressed under drought, cold, salt, and pathogenic stresses, respectively. Five glycometabolism and sphingolipid-related pathways and the endocytosis pathway were enriched by KEGG analysis. The results of this study represent a foundation for further study of the function of C2H2-type zinc finger proteins and will provide us with genetic resources for stress tolerance breeding.

Highlights

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important vegetable crops of Solanaceae (Mueller et al, 2005)
The tomato seedlings used for drought, salt, and cold stress treatments were transferred to hydroponics and grown for 48 h when they were in the raising period of the four-leaf stage
The C2H2-ZFP family genes of tomato and Arabidopsis are relatively evenly interspersed and distributed among the four groups, indicating that the C2H2-ZFP genes are closely related in Arabidopsis and tomato

Summary

Introduction

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important vegetable crops of Solanaceae (Mueller et al, 2005). C2H2-type zinc finger proteins (C2H2-ZFPs), which are members of an important TF family, are called TFIIIA-type ZFPs or classical ZFPs and are widely distributed in eukaryotic genomes (Huang et al, 2005). The C2H2-ZFPs of eukaryotes generally have a specific conserved sequence consisting of 25–30 amino acids: X-X-C-X(1-5)-C-X(12)-H-X(3-6)-H (X: any amino acid; number: the number of amino acids). EPF1 (later renamed ZPT2-1) was identified in Petunia as the first plant-specific ZFP. More zinc finger TFs have been subsequently identified in other plants and have been found to play crucial roles in the regulation of development and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses (Sang et al, 2004; Jiang and Pan, 2012)

Methods

Results

Conclusion