Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the VQ gene family in Cucurbita pepo L

Ke Xu; Ping Wang

doi:10.7717/peerj.12827

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the VQ gene family in Cucurbita pepo L

PeerJ. 2022 Jan 21:10:e12827. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12827. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ke Xu¹, Ping Wang¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Huhehaote, Inner Mongolia, China.

Abstract

VQ protein is a plant specific protein, which plays an important role in plant growth and development and biological and abiotic stress response. This study aimed to systematically analyze for the first time the VQ of Cucurbita pepo and understand their expression patterns in response to different stimuli. Herein, 44 VQ genes were identified, which were divided into eight groups (I-VIII) based on phylogenetic analysis. Two genes (CpVQ1 and CpVQ2) could not be located on the chromosome, whereas the remaining CpVQ genes were randomly distributed on the chromosomes, except for chromosomes 15 and 18. Noteworthy, the main event driving the expansion of the VQ gene family was chromosome fragment duplication. Based on qRT-PCR analysis, VQ genes are expressed in different tissues, and VQ genes are differentially regulated under a variety of abiotic stresses and powdery mildew stress, indicating that they play an important role in plant stress response and other aspects. This report presents the first systematic analysis of VQ genes from C. pepo and provides a solid foundation for further research of the specific functions of VQ proteins.

Keywords: Cucurbita pepo L.; Expression pattern; Powdery mildew; VQ genes family.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cucurbita* / genetics
Genome
Phylogeny
Plant Proteins / genetics
Plants / genetics

Substances

Plant Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Inner Mongolia science and technology plan project (No. 2021GG0148, 20120212); and the Inner Mongolia Agricultural University Animal and plant varieties breeding (cultivation) special project (No. YZGC2017018); the Inner Mongolia Natural Science Foundation Project (No. 2021MS03050); The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.