Abstract
The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein transcription factor family is the most widely distributed transcription factor family in eukaryotes. Members of this family play important roles in secondary metabolic biosynthesis, signal transduction, and plant resistance. Research on the bHLH family in animals is more extensive than that in plants, and members of the family in plants are classified according to the classification criteria for those in animals. To date, no research on the bHLH gene family in Pinus massoniana (Masson pine) has been reported. In this study, we identified 88 bHLH genes from four transcriptomes of Masson pine and performed bioinformatics analysis. These genes were divided into 10 groups in total. RT-PCR analysis revealed that the expression levels of the six genes increased under abiotic stress and hormone treatments. These findings will facilitate further studies on the functions of bHLH transcription factors.
Highlights
During the growth and development of plants in nature, to adapt to and resist various biotic and abiotic stresses, a set of adaptive mechanisms involving various physiological and biochemical reactions are employed [1,2,3]
The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene family is widespread in animals and plants and is the second largest gene family of higher organisms. bHLH Transcription factors (TFs) were first classified in animals, and the research on these TFs is in plants
We identified 88 PmbHLH genes from four transcriptomes of P. massoniana and performed bioinformatics analysis
Summary
During the growth and development of plants in nature, to adapt to and resist various biotic and abiotic stresses, a set of adaptive mechanisms involving various physiological and biochemical reactions are employed [1,2,3] These mechanisms are usually involved in the transcriptional regulation of gene-specific expression, which plays a very important role in plant responses to environmental stimuli [4]. A large number of TFs related to biotic and abiotic stresses have been isolated from higher plants These TFs are widely involved in regulating the expression of genes related to drought, high salt, high temperature, low temperature, hormone and pathogen responses. Members of this family are generally involved in aspects of plant growth and metabolism, including light morphogenesis, light signal transduction, and secondary metabolism, and play an important role in plant responses to adversity [6]
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