AUTHOR=Guo Yang , You Yan , Chen Furong , Liao Yong 

TITLE=Identification of the histone acetyltransferase gene family in the Artemisia annua genome

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1389958

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2024.1389958

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>As the most effective therapeutic drug for malaria, artemisinin can only be extracted from <italic>Artemisia annua</italic> L., which is sensitive to the surrounding growing habitat. Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) contain acetyl groups, which modulate mRNA transcription and thereby regulate plant environmental adaptation. Comprehensive analyses of <italic>HAT</italic>s have been performed in many plants, but systematic identification of <italic>HAT</italic>s in medicinal plants is lacking. In the present study, we identified <italic>11 AaHAT</italic>s and characterized these genes into four classes according to their conserved protein structures. According to the phylogenetic analysis results, potential functions of <italic>HAT</italic> genes from <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic>, <italic>Oryza sativa</italic>, and <italic>A. annua</italic> were found. According to our results, <italic>AaHAT</italic> has a highly conserved evolutionary history and is rich in highly variable regions; thus, <italic>AaHAT</italic> has become a comparatively ideal object of medical plant identification and systematic study. Moreover, motifs commonly present in histone acetyltransferases in the <italic>A. annua</italic> genome may be associated with functional <italic>AaHAT</italic>s. <italic>AaHAT</italic>s appear to be related to gene-specific functions. AaHATs are regulated by <italic>cis</italic>-elements, and these genes may affect phytohormone responsiveness, adaptability to stress, and developmental growth. We performed expression analyses to determine the potential roles of <italic>AaHAT</italic>s in response to three environmental stresses. Our results revealed a cluster of <italic>AaHATs</italic> that potentially plays a role in the response of plants to dynamic environments.</p>