Abstract
BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT (BZR) are transcriptional factors that bind to the DNA of targeted genes to regulate several plant growth and physiological processes in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. However, information on such genes in Brassica napus is minimal. Furthermore, the new reference Brassica napus genome offers an excellent opportunity to systematically characterize this gene family in B. napus. In our study, 21 BnaBZR genes were distributed across 19 chromosomes of B. napus and clustered into four subgroups based on Arabidopsis thaliana orthologs. Functional divergence analysis among these groups evident the shifting of evolutionary rate after the duplication events. In terms of structural analysis, the BnaBZR genes within each subgroup are highly conserved but are distinctive within groups. Organ-specific expression analyses of BnaBZR genes using RNA-seq data and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed complex expression patterns in plant tissues during stress conditions. In which genes belonging to subgroups III and IV were identified to play central roles in plant tolerance to salt, drought, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum stress. The insights from this study enrich our understanding of the B. napus BZR gene family and lay a foundation for future research in improving rape seed environmental adaptability.
Highlights
Abiotic and biotic stresses are the two main environmental factors that influence plant development and quality throughout their life span
Recent studies have reported the interaction of BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT 1 (BZR1)/BZR2 with PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORS (PIFs), MAP KINASE 6 (MAPK6), WRKY TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR 54 (WRKY54), ATBS1INTERACTING FACTOR 2 (AIF2), and transcription elongation factor IWS1 to mediate BR-related plant development and defenserelated processes (Li et al, 2010; Oh et al, 2012; Kang et al, 2015; Chen et al, 2017; Kim et al, 2017; Jia et al, 2020)
The amino acid sequences from B. oleracea and B. rapa were acquired from the Brassica database BRAD,4 using the AtBZRs as a query
Summary
Abiotic and biotic stresses are the two main environmental factors that influence plant development and quality throughout their life span. BZR TFs are mainly expressed in leaf, flower, root, and shoot (Li and Chory, 1999; Reise and Waller, 2009) and are localized in the nucleus to bind with the E-box (CANNTG) and BR-response (CGTGT/CG) cis-elements of one-quarter of BR-responsive genes (Yu et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2014; Wu et al, 2016b) These interactions coordinate various aspects of molecular and cellular processes, including plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. BZR1 and BZR2 bind with the negative regulator of gibberellins signaling to arbitrate plant growth in response to relentless stresses (Li et al, 2012) These molecular interactions between transcriptional factors of the different phytohormones evidenced the crosstalk between BR and multiple phytohormone signaling. The precise molecular mechanism of these synergies is mainly unknown
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