Open Access

ARTICLE

Genome-Wide GRAS Gene Family Analysis Reveals the Classification, Expression Profiles in Melon (Cucumis melo L.)

Yanfei Bi¹, Bin Wei¹, Ying Meng², Zhongzhao Li², Zhenghui Tang¹, Feng Yin³, Chuntao Qian^2,*
1 Jiangsu Changshu National Agricultural Science and Technology Park, Suzhou, 215500, China
2 College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
3 Changshu Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd., Suzhou, 215500, China
* Corresponding Author: Chuntao Qian. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Plant Physiology for Crop Production and Sustainable Agriculture)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2021, 90(4), 1161-1175. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2021.014396

Received 23 September 2020; Accepted 24 January 2021; Issue published 27 April 2021

Abstract

Melon (Cucumis melo), belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family, is a globally important economic crop. GRAS (GAI, RGA, SCR) genes, which are a type of transcription factor, play a critical role in plant growth and development, including processes such as radial root patterning, light signalling, abiotic/biotic stress, axillary shoot meristem formation, and phytohormone (gibberellin) signal transduction. In this study, the GRAS family in melon was analysed comprehensively with respect to chromosomal location, motif prediction, gene structure, and expression pattern. A total of 37 GRAS genes were first identified in melon, after which a phylogenetic tree was built with the GRAS genes of three model species (Arabidopsis, rice, and sacred lotus) and were divided into nine groups based on the findings of previous studies. Motif and gene structure analysis showed typical conserved domains in all melon GRAS and similar structures in the same subfamilies. The expression analysis of GRAS genes done using RNA-seq data, showed that these genes were differentially expressed in different melon leaves under powdery mildew stress. Furthermore, the real-time quantitative PCR for GRAS genes revealed gene expression corresponding to powdery mildew stress. Our results provide useful information for a better understanding of GRAS genes and provide the foundation for additional functional exploration of the melon GRAS gene family in the powdery mildew stress response.

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Keywords

Genome-wide identification; GRAS; melon; stress response

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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