大豆Whirly基因家族的鉴定和表达分析

Identification and Expression Analysis of the Whirly Gene Family in Soybean

Whirly家族是一类植物特异的转录因子,它们能与单链DNA分子结合,无论在细胞核还是在细胞器内都有着广泛而复杂的生物学功能。然而,目前还没有关于大豆Whirly基因的研究报道。本研究首次在全基因组水平鉴定和综合描述大豆Whirly基因家族成员,以期为它们的后续功能研究提供理论基础。该研究在大豆基因组中鉴定到了7个Whirly基因,并对其理化性质、亚细胞定位、进化关系、基因结构、蛋白基序组成、三维结构和基因表达模式等进行综合分析。根据它们的进化关系、基因结构和蛋白基序组成,将其分为两大类。蛋白三维结构分析结果表明,GmWHY5蛋白由于N端的缺失,缺少了β1-4和α1,与其它大豆Whirly蛋白结构差异很大。利用已公布的转录组数据进一步研究了大豆Whirly基因的表达谱,结果显示其组织和胁迫表达模式差异很大。例如GmWHY1、GmWHY2、GmWHY6和GmWHY7的表达水平明显高于GmWHY3、GmWHY4和GmWHY5。总之,这些发现将为大豆Whirly基因家族的研究提供重要的资源,并为进一步阐明其分子机制奠定基础。

Whirly family is a kind of plant-specific transcription factor, which can bind to single-stranded DNA and play myriad roles both in the nucleus and organelles. However, no research on the functions of the Whirly genes in soybean has been reported. To provide a theoretical basis for further functional study of soybean Whirly genes, the genome-wide identification and comprehensive description of this family were firstly carried out in this study. In total, 7 Whirly genes were identified in soybean, and then their physical and chemical properties, subcellular localizations, evolutionary relationships, gene structures, motif compositions, three-dimensional structures and gene expression patterns were comprehensively analyzed. The 7 GmWHY genes were divided into two clades based on their phylogenetic relationships, gene structures and the motif compositions. Protein three-dimensional structure analysis showed that GmWHY5 lacked β1-4 and α1 due to the absence of N-terminal, which was quite different from other soybean Whirly proteins. We further studied the expression profiles of GmWHY genes using the released transcriptome data, and found their tissular and stressed expression patterns varied a lot. For example, the expression levels of GmWHY1, GmWHY2, GmWHY6 and GmWHY7 were significantly higher than those of GmWHY3, GmWHY4 and GmWHY5. Together, these findings will provide a valuable resource for characterizing the GmWHY gene family and lay a foundation for further elucidation of their molecular mechanisms.