Open Access

ARTICLE

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of the GSK3 Gene Family in Sunflower under Various Abiotic Stresses

Xianwen Ji^#, Ziying Jiang^#, Jichao Wang, Lili Dong, Xinyi Deng^*

Department of Ornamental Horticulture, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230061, China

* Corresponding Author: Xinyi Deng. Email:
# Xianwen Ji and Ziying Jiang contributed equally to this work

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Abiotic Stress Impacts on Plant Physiology and Their Alleviation)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2024, 93(8), 1839-1850. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2024.052809

Received 16 April 2024; Accepted 24 June 2024; Issue published 30 August 2024

Abstract

Genes in the glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) family are essential in regulating plant response to stressful conditions. This study employed bioinformatics to uncover the GSK3 gene family from the sunflower genome database. The expressions of GSK3 genes in different tissues and stress treatments, such as salt, drought, and cold, were assessed using transcriptome sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The study results revealed that the 12 GSK3 genes of sunflower, belonging to four classes (Classes I–IV), contained the GSK3 kinase domain and 11–13 exons. The majority of GSK3 genes were highly expressed in the leaf axil and flower, while their expression levels were relatively lower in the leaf. As a result of salt stress, six of the GSK3 genes (HaSK11, HaSK22, HaSK23, HaSK32, HaSK33, and HaSK41) displayed a notable increase in expression, while HaSK14 and HaSK21 experienced a significant decrease. With regard to drought stress, five of the GSK3 genes (HaSK11, HaSK13, HaSK21, HaSK22, and HaSK33) experienced a remarkable rise in expression. When exposed to cold stress, seven of the GSK3 genes (HaSK11, HaSK12, HaSK13, HaSK32, HaSK33, HaSK41, and HaSK42) showed a substantial increase, whereas HaSK21 and HaSK23 had a sharp decline. This research is of great importance in understanding the abiotic resistance mechanism of sunflowers and developing new varieties with improved stress resistance.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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