Comprehensive analysis of AHL gene family and their expression under drought stress and ABA treatment in Populus trichocarpa

Hanzeng Wang; Xue Leng; Jia Yang; Mengqiu Zhang; Minzhen Zeng; Xuemei Xu; Fude Wang; Chenghao Li

doi:10.7717/peerj.10932

Comprehensive analysis of AHL gene family and their expression under drought stress and ABA treatment in Populus trichocarpa

PeerJ. 2021 Feb 17:9:e10932. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10932. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hanzeng Wang^#¹, Xue Leng^#¹, Jia Yang¹, Mengqiu Zhang¹, Minzhen Zeng¹, Xuemei Xu², Fude Wang³, Chenghao Li¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
² Library of Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
³ Institute of Forestry Science, Harbin, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The AT-hook motif nuclear-localized (AHL) family is a plant transcription factor family, which plays an important role in growth and development and stress responses. We identified and analyzed 37 AHL genes in poplar (Populus trichocarpa). Phylogenetic analysis classified the PtrAHL members into three subfamilies based on their conserved domain. All PtrAHL paralogous pairs evolved under purifying selection. The promoter analysis revealed the presence of stress-related and phytohormone-related cis-elements of the PtrAHL genes. Our analysis of the tissue-specific expression pattern of PtrAHL genes indicated their significance in tissue and organ development. Network-based prediction suggested that PtrAHL genes may interact with histone deacetylases (HDAC) and participate in the development of organs, such as roots. Drought negatively impacts plant growth and development. ABA is produced under osmotic stress condition, and it takes an important part in the stress response and tolerance of plants. Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) showed that PtrAHL genes were induced by drought stress and ABA treatment. These insights into the expression of PtrAHL genes under stress provide a basis for PtrAHL gene functional analysis. Our study will help develop new breeding strategies to improve drought tolerance in poplar.

Keywords: AT-hook motif containing nuclear localized gene family; Bioinformatic analysis; Transcription factor; qRT-PCR.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31971671), the Overseas Expertise Introduction Project for Discipline Innovation (B16010), and the Heilongjiang Touyan Innovation Team Program (Tree Genetics and Breeding Innovation Team). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.