Nuclear Factor-Y (NF-Y), the Key Player in Plant Growth and Development: Prediction and Characterization of Vanilla planifolia

Abstract

Background: V. planifolia is of tremendous commercial importance as a source of an important flavor, vanilla, which is the backbone of the culinary and perfumery industry. Hence, efforts to ease cultivation and promote growth in this plant are the need of the hour. Nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y) gene family, a class of vital transcription factors, plays a pivotal role in a large number of developmental processes. Objectives: The present study aims to identify and characterize NF-Y gene family in Vanilla planifolia which would bring insights to their role as key factors promoting growth and development in this orchid. Methods: Physico-chemical characterization, protein structure prediction and interaction, the establishment of evolutionary relationship and expression profiling were attempted using various in silico tools. Results: Twenty five putative NF-Y members were identified in Vanilla planifolia, which were further classified into three sub-classes, NF-YA (13), NF-YB (7) and NF-YC (5), on the basis of specific domains and conserved regions. Prediction of three-dimensional structure was done on the basis of structural similarity with NF-Y structure templates. Evolutionary analysis of the NF-Ys of Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa classified these into three major clusters, which indicated the similarity of functions. Variable expression of VpNF-Y genes confirmed their role in diverse functions. VpNF-YA genes generally showed higher expression in vegetative tissues, while a few VpNF-YBs showed seed-specific expression. Protein-protein interaction indicated complex formation for optimum function. Conclusions: This work paves way for further functional characterization of NF-Y genes in Vanilla planfolia.