Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Vacuolar Processing Enzyme Gene Family and Diverse Expression Under Stress in Apple (Malus × Domestic)

Jianfei Song; Fei Yang; Mi Xun; Longxiao Xu; Xiaozhi Tian; Weiwei Zhang; Hongqiang Yang

doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00626

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Vacuolar Processing Enzyme Gene Family and Diverse Expression Under Stress in Apple (Malus × Domestic)

Front Plant Sci. 2020 May 26:11:626. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00626. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Jianfei Song^{1

2}, Fei Yang^{1

2}, Mi Xun^{1

2}, Longxiao Xu^{1

2}, Xiaozhi Tian^{1

2}, Weiwei Zhang^{1

2}, Hongqiang Yang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, China.

Abstract

Vacuolar processing enzymes (VPEs) play an important role in stress resistance and development of plants. Despite their diverse roles, little information is available in apple (Malus × domestic). This study firstly presents the genome-wide identification of VPE family genes in apple, resulting in 20 family members those are unevenly distributed across six out of the 17 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis assigned these genes into four groups. Analysis of exon-intron junctions and motifs of each candidate gene revealed high levels of conservation within and between phylogenetic groups. Cis-element including w box, ABRE, LTR, and TC-rich repeats were found in promoters of MdVPEs. NCBI-GEO database shown that the expression of MdVPEs exhibited diverse patterns in different tissues as well as the infection of Pythium ultimum and Apple Stem Grooving Virus. Furthermore, qRT-PCR showed that MdVPE genes were responsive to salt, cadmium, low-temperature, and drought. Overexpression of MDP0000172014, which was strongly induced by salt and drought stress, significantly decreased Arabidopsis tolerance to salt stress. The genome-wide identification and characterization of MdVPEs in apple provided basic information for the potential utilization of MdVPEs in stress resistance.

Keywords: Genome-wide analysis; VPE gene family; apple (Malus × domestic); diverse expression; salt stress.