PJB-2018-886
IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ZF-HD GENES RESPONSE TO ABSCISIC ACID AND ABIOTIC STRESSES IN MAIZE
ChunyanLi,ChaoxianLiu
Abstract
The zinc finger homeodomain (ZF-HD) gene subfamily belongs to the homeobox gene family, the members of which play critical roles in flower development and stress response. However, at present, no studies on genome-wide identification and characterization of the ZF-HD genes probably involved in stress responses of maize were reported. In this study, 24 ZF-HD genes were identified in maize, and their chromosomal locations, protein properties, duplication patterns, structures, conserved motifs, and expression patterns were investigated. The results revealed that the ZF-HD genes are unevenly distributed on nine of the ten maize chromosomes and that most of these genes lack introns. Six and two maize ZF-HD genes have undergone segmental and tandem duplication, respectively, during gene expansion. These 24 ZF-HD transcription factors were classified into six major groups on the basis of protein molecular evolutionary relationship. In addition, we examined the expression profiles of these genes in different organs and at different developmental stages, which indicated that most of the maize ZF-HD genes are highly expressed in embryos at 14 days after pollination in ear and tassel primordia. Furthermore, expression profiling of the 24 ZF-HD genes in response to abscisic acid, high salt, and drought stress treatments revealed that ZmZHD11 and ZmZHD12 show significant responses to abiotic stresses, indicating that these two genes probably play important roles in maize stress response. Overall, this study provides important information for further functional analyses of the ZF-HD gene family in maize.
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