TheCucumis sativuskinome: Identification, annotation, and expression patterns in response to powdery mildew infection

Abstract

Protein kinases make up a family of enzymes that play a key role in regulating metabolism. In the cucumber species (Cucumis sativus), this family has not yet been fully characterized. Considering its importance in studies of the botanical family Cucurbitaceae, we identified and characterized the complete set of cucumber kinases, including phylogenetic and classification analyses, their genome positions, chemical characterization, and expression through RNA-seq data in response to powdery mildew and Alternaria leaf spot. The cucumber kinome is made up of 831 proteins, widely distributed across the species's seven chromosomes, with the majority located on chromosome three. The kinases were classified into 21 (9 +11 grupos named Others) groups and 125 subfamilies, with the RLK-Pelle group being the most abundant. There was no evidence of gene duplication and it has a smaller genome compared to other species in the botanical family Cucurbitaceae. Our study provides more information to support the understanding about the function PKs and shows how similar PK subfamilies are in composition, their properties and how they are expressed in disease related scenarios.