Plant
U-box
genes play an important role in the regulation of plant hormone signal transduction, stress tolerance, and pathogen resistance; however, their functions in coffee (
Coffea canephora
L.) remain largely unexplored. In this study, we identified 47
CcPUB
genes in the
C. canephora
L. genome, clustering them into nine groups via phylogenetic tree. The
CcPUB
genes were unevenly distributed across the 11 chromosomes of
C. canephora
L., with the majority (11) on chromosome 2 and none on chromosome 8. The
cis
-acting elements analysis showed that
CcPUB
genes were involved in abiotic and biotic stresses, phytohormone responsive, and plant growth and development. RNA-seq data revealed diverse expression patterns of
CcPUB
genes across leaves, stems, and fruits tissues. qRT-PCR analyses under dehydration, low temperature, SA, and
Colletotrichum
stresses showed significant up-regulation of
CcPUB2
,
CcPUB24
,
CcPUB34
, and
CcPUB40
in leaves. Furthermore, subcellular localization showed
CcPUB2
and
CcPUB34
were located in the plasma membrane and nucleus, and
CcPUB24
and
CcPUB40
were located in the nucleus. This study provides valuable insights into the roles of
PUB
genes in stress responses and phytohormone signaling in
C. canephora
L., and provided basis for functional characterization of
PUB
genes in
C. canephora
L.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-024-10745-w.