Genome-wide Survey of bHLH Super Gene Family in Brassica napus and Their Roles in Roots

Abstract

Background: Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene family is one of the largest transcription factors in plants and are functionally characterized in diverse species. However, less is known about their functions in the economically important allopolyploid oil crop, Brassica napus . Results : We identified 602 potential bHLHs in B. napus genome ( BnbHLHs ) and categorized them into 36 subfamilies, including seven newly separated subfamilies, based on phylogeny, protein structure and exon-intron organization analysis. The intron insertion patterns of this gene family were corrected and a total of