RING domain proteins generally have E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and are involved in degrading their substrate proteins. The roles of these proteins in growth, development, and responses to different abiotic stresses have been described well in various plant species, but little is available on tomatoes. Here, we identified 474 RING domains in 469 potential proteins encoded in the tomato genome. These RING genes were found to be located in 12 chromosomes and could be divided into 51 and 11 groups according to the conserved motifs outside the RING domain and phylogenetic analysis, respectively. Segmental duplication could be the major driver in the expansion of the tomato RING gene family. Further comparative syntenic analysis suggested that there have been functional divergences of RING genes during plant evolution and most of the RING genes in various species are under negative selection. Expression profiles derived from a transcriptomic analysis showed that most tomato RING genes exhibited tissue-specific expression patterning. Further RT-qPCR validation showed that almost all genes were upregulated by salt treatment, which was consistent with the microarray results. This study provides the first comprehensive understanding of the RING gene family in the tomato genome. Our results pave the way for further investigation of the classification, evolution, and potential functions of the RING domain genes in tomato.
Keywords: RING E3 ligases; Solanum lycopersicum; abiotic stress; collinearity; expression patterns; phylogenetic analysis.