Abstract
BackgroundThe NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) transcription factor family represents a group of large plant-specific transcriptional regulators, participating in plant development and response to external stress. However, there is no comprehensive study on the NAC genes of Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum), a large group of extensively cultivated medicinal and edible plants. The recently published Tartary buckwheat genome permits us to explore all the FtNAC genes on a genome-wide basis.ResultsIn the present study, 80 NAC (FtNAC) genes of Tartary buckwheat were obtained and named uniformly according to their distribution on chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis of NAC proteins in both Tartary buckwheat and Arabidopsis showed that the FtNAC proteins are widely distributed in 15 subgroups with one subgroup unclassified. Gene structure analysis found that multitudinous FtNAC genes contained three exons, indicating that the structural diversity in Tartary buckwheat NAC genes is relatively low. Some duplication genes of FtNAC have a conserved structure that was different from others, indicating that these genes may have a variety of functions. By observing gene expression, we found that FtNAC genes showed abundant differences in expression levels in various tissues and at different stages of fruit development.ConclusionsIn this research, 80 NAC genes were identified in Tartary buckwheat, and their phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, duplication, global expression and potential roles in Tartary buckwheat development were studied. Comprehensive analysis will be useful for a follow-up study of functional characteristics of FtNAC genes and for the development of high-quality Tartary buckwheat varieties.
Highlights
The NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) transcription factor family represents a group of large plant-specific transcriptional regulators, participating in plant development and response to external stress
Identification of FtNAC genes in Tartary buckwheat Eighty NAC genes were identified by the two BLAST methods, and the redundant forms of the same gene were removed simultaneously
We introduced the basic information of 80 NAC genes in detail, including isoelectric point (PI), molecular weight (MW) and coding sequence length (CDS)
Summary
The NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) transcription factor family represents a group of large plant-specific transcriptional regulators, participating in plant development and response to external stress. There is no comprehensive study on the NAC genes of Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum), a large group of extensively cultivated medicinal and edible plants. The NAC domain protein family is a larger plant-specific TF family. The family name is based on the three proteins: no apical meristem (NAM), ATAF1–2, and cup-shaped cotyledon (CUC), which all possess a similar DNA-binding domain [5, 6]. The structure of NAC proteins can be divided into conserved N-terminal DNA-binding domains and highly dispersed C-terminal transcriptional regulatory regions [7, 8]. NAC domains comprise five subdomains, A through E, located at the N-terminal, and usually contain approximately 150 amino acid residues, which are related to DNA binding, dimer formation and localization [9,10,11]
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