Genome-wide identification of CBF genes and their responses to cold acclimation in Taraxacum kok-saghyz

Haifeng Zhang; Yongyong Gong; Peilin Sun; Sixue Chen; Chunquan Ma

doi:10.7717/peerj.13429

Genome-wide identification of CBF genes and their responses to cold acclimation in Taraxacum kok-saghyz

PeerJ. 2022 May 12:10:e13429. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13429. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Haifeng Zhang^{1

2}, Yongyong Gong^{1

2}, Peilin Sun³, Sixue Chen^{4

5}, Chunquan Ma^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Engineering Research Center of Agricultural Microbiology Technology, Ministry of Education, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, China.
² Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, College of Heilongjiang Province, School of Life Sciences, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Nuclear Technology Application, Heilongjiang Institute of Atomic Energy, Harbin, China.
⁴ Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry, Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁵ Department of Biology, Genetics Institute, Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Abstract

C-repeat binding factors (CBFs) are transcription factors that are known to play important roles in plant cold acclimation. They are highly conserved in most higher plants. Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS) is an herb native to China and Kazakhstan and is well-known for its production of rubber silk with industrial and economic value. To understand cold acclimation mechanisms, we conducted a genome-wide discovery of the CBF family genes in TKS and revealed ten CBF genes. A bioinformatic analysis of the CBF genes was carried out to analyze the phylogenetic relationship, protein conservative motifs, protein physicochemical properties, gene structure, promoter cis-acting elements, and the gene expression patterns under cold acclimation and control conditions. It was found that most of these genes were highly responsive at the late stage of cold acclimation, indicating that they play important roles in the cold acclimation processes of TKS. This study provides a theoretical basis for the study of the molecular functions of the CBF gene family in TKS, and a useful guidance for the genetic improvement of the cold tolerance traits of TKS and other plants, including crops.

Keywords: Bioinformatics; CBF; Cold acclimation; Gene expression; Genome-wide analysis; Taraxacum kok-saghyz.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Acclimatization / genetics
Phylogeny
Rubber / metabolism
Taraxacum* / genetics
Transcription Factors / genetics

Substances

Transcription Factors
Rubber

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation of China, Project 31671751: Regulatory mechanisms of BvM14-glyoxalase I transcription factor in the response of sugar beet to salt stress, Project 31401441: Identification of root variation related proteins in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) monosomic addition line M14 using LC-MS/MS analysis. This work was also funded by the Heilongjiang University Horizontal Project (2019230101001544). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.