Genome-wide analysis and identification of stress-responsive genes of the CCCH zinc finger family in Capsicum annuum L.

Abstract

The CCCH zinc finger gene family encodes a class of proteins that can bind to both DNA and RNA, and an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that the CCCH gene family plays a key role in growth and development and responses to environmental stress. Here, we identified 57 CCCH genes in the pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) genome and explored the evolution and function of the CCCH gene family in C. annuum. Substantial variation was observed in the structure of these CCCH genes, and the number of exons ranged from one to fourteen. Analysis of gene duplication events revealed that segmental duplication was the main driver of gene expansion in the CCCH gene family in pepper. We found that the expression of CCCH genes was significantly up-regulated during the response to biotic and abiotic stress, especially cold and heat stress, indicating that CCCH genes play key roles in stress responses. Our results provide new information on CCCH genes in pepper and will aid future studies of the evolution, inheritance, and function of CCCH zinc finger genes in pepper.

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of C3H Zinc Finger Family in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

“…So far, detailed information on the C3H family in potato has not been uncovered. In this study, we identified and characterized 50 C3H genes from the potato genome, which were similar to those identified in other Solanaceae species, Solanum lycopersicum (47 members) and Capsicum annuum (57 members) [ 47 , 53 ]. The number of C3H genes varies among plant species, for example, rose (31 members) and Medicago truncatula (34 members) have fewer C3H members, and the number of C3H genes in Brassica rapa (103 members) and Glycine max (116 members) are significantly higher than those in other species [ 47 , 52 , 54 , 55 , 56 ].…”

“…In this study, we identified and characterized 50 C3H genes from the potato genome, which were similar to those identified in other Solanaceae species, Solanum lycopersicum (47 members) and Capsicum annuum (57 members) [ 47 , 53 ]. The number of C3H genes varies among plant species, for example, rose (31 members) and Medicago truncatula (34 members) have fewer C3H members, and the number of C3H genes in Brassica rapa (103 members) and Glycine max (116 members) are significantly higher than those in other species [ 47 , 52 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. Gene duplication is essential for the adaptation and evolution of organisms, and segmental and tandem duplications are considered to play important roles in the expansion of plant gene families [ 57 ].…”

“…Compared with other zinc fingers, such as the C2H2-type or CCCC-type gene families, there have been few studies on the C3H gene family. To date, some C3H gene families have been identified in Arabidopsis , Solanum lycopersicum , Capsicum annuum , Hordeum vulgare , Pyrus betulaefolia , Dimocarpus longan Lour , and other species [ 6 , 21 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. And the functional study of C3H genes also indicates that the C3H family plays important roles in various aspects of plants, including plant growth and development and stress tolerance [ 13 ].…”

“…Xu et al showed that the heterologous expression of HuTZF3 enhanced heat tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis [ 63 ]. In pepper, some C3H genes were found to be significantly induced by heat stress, such as PEPTY4 and PEPTY51 [ 47 ]. Consistently, the expression profiles of StC3H genes showed that some StC3H genes were highly expressed under heat stress ( Figure 7 ).…”