AUTHOR=Liu Weili , Ren Weichao , Liu Xiubo , He Lianqing , Qin Chen , Wang Panpan , Kong Lingyang , Li Yang , Liu Yunwei , Ma Wei 

TITLE=Identification and characterization of Dof genes in Cerasus humilis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1152685

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1152685

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p><italic>Dof</italic> genes encode plant-specific transcription factors, which regulate various biological processes such as growth, development, and secondary metabolite accumulation.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>We conducted whole-genome analysis of Chinese dwarf cherry (<italic>Cerasus humilis</italic>) to identify <italic>ChDof</italic> genes and characterize the structure, motif composition, cis-acting elements, chromosomal distribution, and collinearity of these genes as well as the physical and chemical properties, amino acid sequences, and phylogenetic evolution of the encoded proteins.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The results revealed the presence of 25 <italic>ChDof</italic> genes in <italic>C. humilis</italic> genome. All 25 <italic>ChDof</italic> genes could be divided into eight groups, and the members of the same group had similar motif arrangement and intron-exon structure. Promoter analysis showed that cis-acting elements responsive to abscisic acid, low temperature stress, and light were dominant. Transcriptome data revealed that most <italic>ChDof</italic> genes exhibited tissue-specific expression. Then, we performed by qRT-PCR to analyze the expression patterns of all 25 <italic>ChDof</italic> genes in fruit during storage. The results indicated that these genes exhibited different expression patterns, suggesting that they played an important role in fruit storage.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>The results of this study provide a basis for further investigation of the biological function of <italic>Dof</italic> genes in <italic>C. humilis</italic> fruit.</p></sec>