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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1487960

Genome expression analysis of Basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) transcription factors in Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.)

Provisionally accepted
Jiajia Zhang Jiajia Zhang 1,2Gaigai Du Gaigai Du 2,3Guoyun Zhang Guoyun Zhang 4Jianguo Zhang Jianguo Zhang 4Songfeng Diao Songfeng Diao 4*
  • 1 Central South University Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
  • 2 Chinese Academy of Forestry, Zhengzhou, China
  • 3 Radboud University, Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands
  • 4 Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor family is one of the largest gene families in plants, extensively involved in plant growth, organ development, and stress responses. However, limited studies of this family are available in sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). In this study, we identified 144 bHLH genes in H. rhamnoides (HrbHLH) through a genome-wide search method, then explored their DNA and protein sequences and physicochemical properties. According to the sequence similarities, we classified them into 15 groups with specific motif structures. To explore their expressions, we performed gene expression profiling using RNA-Seq and identified 122 HrbHLH mRNAs were highly expressed, while the remaining 22 HrbHLH genes were expressed at very low levels in all 21 samples. Among these HrbHLH genes, HrbHLH47, HrbHLH74, HrbHLH90, HrbHLH131 showed the highest expression level in the root nodule, root, leaf, stem and fruit tissues. Furthermore, eleven HrbHLH genes displayed increased expressions during the fruit development process of sea buckthorn. Finally, we validated the expression patterns of HrbHLH genes using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (QPCR). This comprehensive analysis provides a useful resource that enables further investigation of the physiological roles and molecular functions of the HrbHLH TFs.

    Keywords: Hippophae rhamnoides, Genome-wide analysis, Basic helix-loop-helix TFs, expression analysis, Fruit development

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 21 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Du, Zhang, Zhang and Diao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Songfeng Diao, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, Beijing Municipality, China

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