AUTHOR=Nan Hong , Ludlow Richard A. , Lu Min , An Huaming 

TITLE=Genome-Wide Analysis of Dof Genes and Their Response to Abiotic Stress in Rose (Rosa chinensis)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.538733

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2021.538733

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>Dof (DNA binding with one finger) proteins play important roles in plant development and defense regulatory networks. In the present study, we report a genome-wide analysis of rose <italic>Dof</italic> genes (<italic>RchDof</italic>), including phylogenetic inferences, gene structures, chromosomal locations, gene duplications, and expression diversity. A total of 24 full-length <italic>RchDof</italic> genes were identified in <italic>Rosa chinensis</italic>, which were assigned to nine distinct subgroups. These <italic>RchDof</italic> genes were unevenly distributed on rose chromosomes. The genome-scale analysis of synteny indicated that segmental duplication events may have played a major role in the evolution of the <italic>RchDof</italic> gene family. Analysis of <italic>cis</italic>-acting elements revealed putative functions of <italic>Dofs</italic> in rose during development as well as under numerous biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Moreover, the expression profiles derived from qRT-PCR experiments demonstrated distinct expression patterns in various tissues, and gene expression divergence existed among the duplicated <italic>RchDof</italic> genes, suggesting a fundamentally functional divergence of the duplicated <italic>Dof</italic> paralogs in rose. The gene expression analysis of <italic>RchDof</italic>s under drought and salt stress conditions was also performed. The present study offered novel insights into the evolution of <italic>RchDof</italic>s and can aid in the further functional characterization of its candidate genes.</p>