Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Pattern of the GRAS Gene Family in Pitaya (Selenicereus undatus L.)

Abstract

The GRAS gene family is one of the most important families of transcriptional factors that have diverse functions in plant growth and developmental processes including axillary meristem patterning, signal-transduction, cell maintenance, phytohormone and light signaling. Despite their importance, the function of GRAS genes in pitaya fruit (Selenicereus undatus L.) remains unknown. Here, 45 members of the HuGRAS gene family were identified in the pitaya genome, which was distributed on 11 chromosomes. All 45 members of HuGRAS were grouped into nine subfamilies using phylogenetic analysis with six other species: maize, rice, soybeans, tomatoes, Medicago truncatula and Arabidopsis. Among the 45 genes, 12 genes were selected from RNA-Seq data due to their higher expression in different plant tissues of pitaya. In order to verify the RNA-Seq data, these 12 HuGRAS genes were subjected for qRT-PCR validation. Nine HuGRAS genes exhibited higher relative expression in different tissues of the plant. These nine genes which were categorized into six subfamilies inlcuding DELLA (HuGRAS-1), SCL-3 (HuGRAS-7), PAT1 (HuGRAS-34, HuGRAS-35, HuGRAS-41), HAM (HuGRAS-37), SCR (HuGRAS-12) and LISCL (HuGRAS-18, HuGRAS-25) might regulate growth and development in the pitaya plant. The results of the present study provide valuable information to improve tropical pitaya through a molecular and conventional breeding program.

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of GRAS gene family in Eucalyptus grandis

“…The 82 EgrGRAS genes were classified into nine subfamilies based on evolutionary relationships, including PAT1, SHR, LISCL, HAM, SCR, RGL, LAS, DELLA and SCL3. Consistent with the previous reports, the LISCL and SHR subfamilies did not contain GRAS genes from soybean [ 35 ]. The phylogenetic tree showed that most of the EgrGRAS proteins were classified into the same evolutionary branches as Arabidopsis or soybean, suggesting homology in their evolutionary relationships.…”