Backgrounds
C2H2-type zinc finger protein (ZFPs) form a relatively large family of transcriptional regulators in plants, and play many roles in plant growth, development, and stress response. However, the comprehensive analysis of C2H2 ZFPs in cucumber (
CsZFPs
) and their regulation function in cucumber are still lacking.
Results
In the current study, the whole genome identification and characterization of
CsZFPs
, including the gene structure, genome localization, phylogenetic relationship, and gene expression were performed. Functional analysis of 4 selected genes by transient transformation were also conducted. A total of 129 full-length
CsZFPs
were identified, which could be classified into four groups according to the phylogenetic analysis. The 129
CsZFPs
unequally distributed on 7 chromosomes. Promoter
cis
-element analysis showed that the
CsZFPs
might involve in the regulation of phytohormone and/or abiotic stress response, and 93
CsZFPs
were predicted to be targeted by one to 20 miRNAs. Moreover, the subcellular localization analysis indicated that 10 tested CsZFPs located in the nucleus and the transcriptome profiling analysis of
CsZFPs
demonstrated that these genes are involved in root and floral development, pollination and fruit spine. Furthermore, the transient overexpression of
Csa1G085390
and
Csa7G071440
into
Nicotiana benthamiana
plants revealed that they could decrease and induce leave necrosis in response to pathogen attack, respectively, and they could enhance salt and drought stresses through the initial induction of H
2
O
2
. In addition,
Csa4G642460
and
Csa6G303740
could induce cell death after 5 days transformation.
Conclusions
The identification and function analysis of
CsZFPs
demonstrated that some key individual
CsZFPs
might play essential roles in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. These results could lay the foundation for understanding the role of
CsZFPs
in cucumber development for future genetic engineering studies.