Genome-wide characterization of the MBF1 gene family and its expression pattern in different tissues and stresses in Medicago

Abstract

Background Multiprotein bridging factor 1 are transcription factors that play critical roles in plant life cycle and in plant tolerance to environmental stresses. Medicago sativa is an important perennial legume forage grass, whereas the potential information in the MBF1 genes associated with stress resistance remains poorly understood. Results Three MBF1 genes were identified from each of the M. truncatula and M. sativa genomes. Multiple sequence alignment analysis showed that all these members contain conserved MBF1 and HTH domains. The MBF1 genes showed similar exon-intron organizations, and similar architectures in their conserved motifs. A number of cis-acting elements associated with drought, MeJA and light stress were identified in their promoter regions. In addition, these MBF1 genes were shown in genechip and transcriptome data to exhibit divergent expression patterns in various tissues or in response to drought and salt treatments. In particular, qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of MtMBF1b and MtMBF1c were significantly induced by NaCl treatment, indicating that they are likely to play a role in salt stress response. Conclusions Our comprehensive analysis provides valuable information for elucidating the evolutionary process of MBF1 genes and their expression patterns in different tissues and under four stresses. This work will facilitate the application of MBF1 genes in molecular breeding of highly resistant alfalfa.