AUTHOR=Kim Tae-Lim , Lim Hyemin , Denison Michael Immanuel Jesse , Natarajan Sathishkumar , Oh Changyoung 

TITLE=Genome-wide identification of the PFK gene family and their expression analysis in Quercus rubra

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2023.1289557

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2023.1289557

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>The glycolytic pathway involves phosphofructokinase (PFK), a rate-limiting enzyme that catalyzes the phosphorylation of fructose-6-phosphate. In plants, the two PFK members are ATP-dependent phosphofructokinase (PFK) and pyrophosphate-fructose-6-phosphate phosphotransferase (PFP). However, the functions of the PFK family members in <italic>Quercus rubra</italic> are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the genome-wide distribution of the PFK family members and their roles in <italic>Q. rubra</italic> by performing a systematic study of the phylogenetic relationships, molecular characteristics, motifs, chromosomal and subcellular locations, and <italic>cis-</italic>elements of <italic>QrPFKs</italic>. We identified 14 <italic>QrPFK</italic> genes in the genome of <italic>Q. rubra</italic>, followed by examining their expression in different tissues, including the roots, stems, and leaves. The phylogenetic tree divided the 14 <italic>QrPFK</italic> genes into two groups: 11 belonging to <italic>PFK</italic> and three belonging to <italic>PFP</italic>. The expression profiles of all 14 proteins were relatively the same in leaves but differed between stems and roots. Four genes (<italic>Qurub.02G189400.1, Qurub.02G189400.2, Qurub.09G134300.1, and Qurub</italic>.<italic>09G134300.2</italic>) were expressed at very low levels in both stems and roots, while two (<italic>Qurub.05G235500.1 and Qurub.05G235500.1</italic>) were expressed at low levels and the others showed relatively high expression in all tissues.</p>