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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1499024
This article is part of the Research Topic Multi-Omics, Genetic Evolution and Crop Domestication View all 9 articles

Pan-genome wide identification and analysis of the SAMS gene family in sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) revealed their intraspecies diversity and potential roles in abiotic stress tolerance

Provisionally accepted
Chun Zhang Chun Zhang 1Haoyu Li Haoyu Li 2Jiamin Yin Jiamin Yin 1Zhibin Han Zhibin Han 1Xinqi Liu Xinqi Liu 1Yang Chen Yang Chen 1*
  • 1 Hetao College, Bayannur, China
  • 2 Bayannur Modern Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Development Center, Bayannur, China

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

    S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a key molecule in plant biology, plays an essential role in stress response and growth regulation. Despite its importance, the SAM synthetase (SAMS) gene family in sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) remains poorly understood. This study identified 58 SAMS genes across nine cultivated sunflower species, which were phylogenetically classified into two clades with seven distinct subgroups. Clade I branching into three pairs of group genes (SAMS1 and 5, SAMS6 and 2, as well as SAMS4 and 7) likely resulting from recent WGT-1 and WGD-2 genome duplication events. Collinearity analysis revealed segmental duplications as the primary driver of gene family expansion and all duplicated genes were under purifying selection. The codon usage bias analysis suggested that natural selection substantially shapes the codon usage patterns of sunflower SAMS genes, with a bias for G/C-ending high-frequency codons, particularly encoding glycine, leucine, and arginine. Analysis of the cis-regulatory elements in promoter regions, implied their potential roles in hormones and stress responsiveness. Differential expression patterns for HanSAMS genes were observed in different tissues as well as under hormone treatment or abiotic stress conditions by analyzing RNA-seq data from previous studies and qRT-PCR data in our current study. The majority of genes demonstrated a robust response to BRA and IAA treatments in leaf tissues, with no significant expression change observed in roots, suggesting the response of HanSAMS genes to hormones is tissue-specific. Expression analyses under abiotic stresses demonstrated diverse expression profiles of HanSAMS genes, with HanSAMS5 showing significant upregulation in response to both drought and salt stresses. This comprehensive genomic and expression analysis provides valuable insights into the SAMS gene family in sunflowers, laying a robust foundation for future functional studies and applications in crop improvement for stress resilience.

    Keywords: S-Adenosylmethionine synthase, pan-genome, sunflowers, abiotic stresses, qRT-PCR

    Received: 20 Sep 2024; Accepted: 21 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Li, Yin, Han, Liu and Chen. 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: Yang Chen, Hetao College, Bayannur, China

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