Identification and characterization of the GH3 gene family in maize

The phytohormone auxin plays a central role in coordinating plant growth and development.GH3 is one of the three gene families that respond rapidly during auxin stimulation.Here,we report the identification and characterization of the GH3 gene family in maize.A total of 12 GH3 genes were identified,which are not evenly distributed over the 10 maize chromosomes.Maize GH3 protein sequences share a conserved domain which occupies nearly the entire protein.Diversified c/＇s-elements were found in promoters of maize GH3 genes.In this study,the 12 maize GH3 proteins were primarily classified into two phylogenetic groups,similar to the 13 rice GH3 proteins,while 9 of the 19 Arabidopsis GH3 proteins were observed in the third phylogenetic group.Microarray analysis showed that expression of maize GH3 genes is temporally and spatially modulated.Additionally,maize GH3 genes displayed variable changes at transcript level upon pathogen infection.Results presented here provide insight into the diversification and evolution of GH3 proteins,and lay a foundation for the functional characterization of these GH3 genes in future,especially for elucidating the mechanisms of GH3-mediated pathogenesis.

Genome-wide identification, expression analysis of auxin-responsive GH_3 family genes in maize(Zea mays L.) under abiotic stresses

Auxin is involved in different aspects of plant growth and development by regulating the expression of auxin-responsive family genes. As one of the three major auxin-responsive families, GH3 (Gretchen Hagen3) genes participate in auxin homeostasis by catalyzing auxin conjugation and bounding free indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) to amino acids. However, how GH3 genes function in responses to abiotic stresses and various hormones in maize is largely unknown. Here, the latest updated maize (Zea mays L.) reference genome sequence was used to characterize and analyze the ZmGH3 family genes from maize. The results showed that 13 ZmGH3 genes were mapped on five maize chromosomes (total 10 chromosomes). Highly diversified gene structures and tissue-specific expression patterns suggested the possibility of function diversification for these genes in response to environmental stresses and hormone stimuli. The expression patterns of ZmGH3 genes are responsive to several abiotic stresses (salt, drought and cadmium) and major stress-related hormones (abscisic acid, salicylic acid and jasmonic acid). Various environmental factors suppress auxin free IAA contents in maize roots suggesting that these abiotic stresses and hormones might alter GH3-mediated auxin levels. The respon-siveness of ZmGH3 genes to a wide range of abiotic stresses and stress-related hormones suggested that ZmGH3s are involved in maize tolerance to environmental stresses.