Identification, Classification and Characterization of LBD Transcription Factor Family Genes in Pinus massoniana

Abstract

Transcription factors (TFs) are a class of proteins that play an important regulatory role in controlling the expression of plant target genes by interacting with downstream regulatory genes. The lateral organ boundary (LOB) structural domain (LBD) genes are a family of genes encoding plant-specific transcription factors that play important roles in regulating plant growth and development, nutrient metabolism, and environmental stresses. However, the LBD gene family has not been systematically identified in Pinus massoniana, one of the most important conifers in southern China. Therefore, in this study, we combined cell biology and bioinformatics approaches to identify the LBD gene family of P. massoniana by systematic gene structure and functional evolutionary analysis. We obtained 47 LBD gene family members, and all PmLBD members can be divided into two subfamilies, (Class I and Class II). By treating the plants with abiotic stress and growth hormone, etc., under qPCR-based analysis, we found that the expression of PmLBD genes was regulated by growth hormone and abiotic stress treatments, and thus this gene family in growth and development may be actively involved in plant growth and development and responses to adversity stress, etc. By subcellular localization analysis, PmLBD is a nuclear protein, and two of the genes, PmLBD44 and PmLBD45, were selected for functional characterization; secondly, yeast self-activation analysis showed that PmLBD44, PmLBD45, PmLBD46 and PmLBD47 had no self-activating activity. This study lays the foundation for an in-depth study of the role of the LBD gene family in other physiological activities of P. massoniana.

Genome-Wide Identification of LBD Genes in Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) and Functional Characterization of SiLBD21

“…Among thirty-three SiLBD TFs, twenty-seven (81.82%) belong to class I and six (18.18%) belong to class II. Obviously, there are many more member in class I than in class II, which is consistent with previous studies [ 47 , 48 , 49 ]. The phylogenetic tree analysis of LBD genes in species including Arabidopsis and rice showed that LBD genes were conserved during plant evolution.…”

The Construction of lncRNA/circRNA–miRNA–mRNA Networks Reveals Functional Genes Related to Growth Traits in Schima superba

“…Forest tree growth traits are usually controlled by specific functional and regulatory genes and related pathways [3][4][5][6][7]. Among the numerous regulatory mechanisms and pathways, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and circular RNA (circRNA) are core factors that regulate specific traits through microRNAs (miRNAs) [8].…”