Genome-wide and comparative phylogenetic analysis of senescence-associated NAC transcription factors in sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Abstract

Background Leaf senescence delay impacts positively in grain yield by maintaining the photosynthetic area during the reproductive stage and during grain filling. Therefore a comprehensive understanding of the gene families associated with leaf senescence is essential. NAC transcription factors (TF) form a large plant-specific gene family involved in regulating development, senescence, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. The main goal of this work was to identify sunflower NAC TF (HaNAC) and their association with senescence, studying their orthologous to understand possible functional relationships between genes of different species. Results To clarify the orthologous relationships, we used an in-depth comparative study of four divergent taxa, in dicots and monocots, with completely sequenced genomes (Arabidopsis thaliana, Vitis vinifera, Musa acuminata and Oryza sativa). These orthologous groups provide a curated resource for large scale protein sequence annotation of NAC TF. From the 151 HaNAC genes detected in the latest version of the sunflower genome, 50 genes were associated with senescence traits. These genes showed significant differential expression in two contrasting lines according to an RNAseq assay. An assessment of overexpressing the Arabidopsis line for HaNAC001 (a gene of the same orthologous group of Arabidopsis thaliana ORE1) revealed that this line displayed a significantly higher number of senescent leaves and a pronounced change in development rate. Conclusions This finding suggests HaNAC001 as an interesting candidate to explore the molecular regulation of senescence in sunflower.

Genome-wide characterization of NAC transcription factors in Camellia sinensis and the involvement of CsNAC28 in drought tolerance

“…The NAC transcription factors regulate many critical biological processes that are commonly associated with stress resistance, and they have been extensively identified in Arabidopsis (105), rice (138), maize (147), sunflowers (151), tomatoes (93), bananas (167), peppers (104), Populus trichocarpa (163), and apples (180) because of the availability of their whole-genome sequences ( Ooka et al., 2003 ; Hu et al., 2010 ; Nuruzzaman et al., 2010 ; Su et al., 2013 ; Cenci et al., 2014 ; Diao et al., 2018 ; Jin et al., 2020 ; Wang et al., 2020 ; Bengoa Luoni et al., 2021 ). Many studies have demonstrated that NAC transcription factors increase resistance to drought by activating downstream genes involved in the ABA pathway.…”

Identification of the NAC Transcription Factors and Their Function in ABA and Salinity Response in Nelumbo nucifera

“…The members of the NAC family have been identified and reported in many species by gene family analysis. For instance, 108 members have been identified in Arabidopsis , 151 members in rice, 150 members in soybean, 261 members in M. sinensis , 132 members in peanut, 151 members in sunflower, 87 members in maize, 111 members in celery, 104 members in pepper, and 110 members in potato [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. NAC proteins have not only been identified, but their functions have also been well studied.…”