Abstract
As the second largest transcription factor family in plant, the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor family, characterized by the conserved bHLH domain, plays a central regulatory role in many biological process. However, the bHLH transcription factor family of strawberry has not been systematically identified, especially for the anthocyanin biosynthesis. Here, we identified a total of 113 bHLH transcription factors and described their chromosomal distribution and bioinformatics for the diploid woodland strawberry Fragaria vesca. In addition, transcription profiles of 113 orthologous bHLH genes from various tissues were analyzed for the cultivar ‘Benihoppe’, its white-flesh mutant ‘Xiaobai’, and the ‘Snow Princess’ from their fruit development to the ripening, as well as those under either the ABA or Eth treatment. Both the RT-PCR and qRT-PCR results show that seven selected FabHLH genes (FabHLH17, FabHLH25, FabHLH27, FabHLH29, FabHLH40, FabHLH80, FabHLH98) are responsive to the fruit anthocyanin biosynthesis and hormone signaling according to transcript profiles where three color modes are observed for strawberry’s fruit skin and flesh. Further, prediction for the protein interaction network reveals that four bHLHs (FabHLH25, FabHLH29, FabHLH80, FabHLH98) are involved in the fruit anthocyanin biosynthesis and hormone signaling transduction. These bioinformatics and expression profiles provide a good basis for a further investigation of strawberry bHLH genes.
Highlights
The basic helix-loop-helix proteins, named by their signature conserved domain, form a large superfamily of transcription factor
Though as one of the most important horticultural crops grown worldwide providing ingredient for processed foods like jams and juices, strawberry has been barely studied for its basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family, who participates in the anthocyanin biosynthesis in the fruit ripening
Very few bHLHs have been investigated for the strawberry, such as FabHLH338, FaSPT40 and FvbHLH3339
Summary
The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins, named by their signature conserved domain, form a large superfamily of transcription factor. They are widely distributed from yeast to human[1,2] and play a central role in many different functions in the development of animals and plants[3,4]. Genes from bHLH III(d + e) subfamily have been demonstrated to be able to regulate the JA signal pathway to enhance the plant defense and promote the anthocyanin biosynthesis[23,24,25,26,27]. We hope that this work will serve as a solid foundation for further investigations into functions of bHLH genes for the anthocyanin biosynthesis
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