Genome-wide analysis of the MADS-box gene family involved in salt and waterlogging tolerance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Feifei Wang; Zhenxiang Zhou; Liang Zhu; Yangyang Gu; Baojian Guo; Chao Lv; Juan Zhu; Rugen Xu

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1178065

Genome-wide analysis of the MADS-box gene family involved in salt and waterlogging tolerance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Front Plant Sci. 2023 May 9:14:1178065. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1178065. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Feifei Wang¹, Zhenxiang Zhou¹, Liang Zhu¹, Yangyang Gu¹, Baojian Guo¹, Chao Lv¹, Juan Zhu¹, Rugen Xu¹

Affiliation

¹ Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genomics and Molecular Breeding, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Institutes of Agricultural Science, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

MADS-box transcription factors are crucial members of regulatory networks underlying multiple developmental pathways and abiotic stress regulatory networks in plants. Studies on stress resistance-related functions of MADS-box genes are very limited in barley. To gain insight into this gene family and elucidate their roles in salt and waterlogging stress resistance, we performed genome-wide identification, characterization and expression analysis of MADS-box genes in barley. A whole-genome survey of barley revealed 83 MADS-box genes, which were categorized into type I (Mα, Mβ and Mγ) and type II (AP1, SEP1, AGL12, STK, AGL16, SVP and MIKC*) lineages based on phylogeny, protein motif structure. Twenty conserved motifs were determined and each HvMADS contained one to six motifs. We also found tandem repeat duplication was the driven force for HvMADS gene family expansion. Additionally, the co-expression regulatory network of 10 and 14 HvMADS genes was predicted in response to salt and waterlogging stress, and we proposed HvMADS11,13 and 35 as candidate genes for further exploration of the functions in abiotic stress. The extensive annotations and transcriptome profiling reported in this study ultimately provides the basis for MADS functional characterization in genetic engineering of barley and other gramineous crops.

Keywords: MADS-box; barley; protein-protein interaction; salt stress; waterlogging stress.

Grants and funding

This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32101652), the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD1000704), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20190891), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (19KJB210018), a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), and the National Barley and Highland Barley Industrial Technology Specially Constructive Foundation of China (CARS-05).