AUTHOR=Li Shuai , Wang Runhao , Jin Hanqi , Ding Yanhua , Cai Chunmei 

TITLE=Molecular Characterization and Expression Profile Analysis of Heat Shock Transcription Factors in Mungbean

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2018.00736

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2018.00736

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>Heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs) are essential elements in plant signal transduction pathways that mediate gene expression in response to various abiotic stresses. Mungbean (<italic>Vigna radiata</italic>) is an important crop worldwide. The emergence of a genome database now allows for functional analysis of mungbean genes. In this study, we dissect the mungbean <italic>Hsfs</italic> using genome-wide identification and expression profiles. We characterized a total of 24 <italic>VrHsf</italic> genes and classified them into three groups (A, B, and C) based on their phylogeny and conserved domain structures. All <italic>VrHsf</italic> genes exhibit highly conserved exon-intron organization, with two exons and one intron. In addition, all VrHsf proteins contain 16 distinct motifs. Chromosome location analysis revealed that <italic>VrHsf</italic> genes are located on 8 of the 11 mungbean chromosomes, and that seven duplicated gene pairs had formed among them. Moreover, transcription patterns of <italic>VrHsf</italic> genes varied in different tissues, indicating their different roles in plant growth and development. We identified multiple stress related <italic>cis</italic>-elements in <italic>VrHsf</italic> promoter regions 2 kb upstream of the translation initiation codons, and the expression of most <italic>VrHsf</italic> genes was altered under different stress conditions, suggesting their potential functions in stress resistance pathways. These molecular characterization and expression profile analyses of <italic>VrHsf</italic> genes provide essential information for further function investigation.</p>