Identification and Analysis of Differentially Expressed MYB-related Genes in Maize (Zea mays) Under Drought Stress and Rewatering
ZHANG Peng-Yu1,2, FU Jia-Xu2, QIU Xiao2, WANG Tong-Chao1,2,*, WEI Li2,*
1 The Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Food Crops, Zhengzhou 450002, China; 2 College of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Abstract：MYB-related gene is a subclass of MYB transcription factors, which mainly participates in the processes of secondary metabolism, growth and development, biological and abiotic stress. In order to explore the function of MYB-related transcription factor under drought stress, in the present study, 46 differentially expressed MYB-related genes were identified from the former transcriptome results under drought-rewatering treatment and comprehensive analyses were conducted including phylogenetic tree, motif prediction, gene's structure, cis-acting elements and co-expression analysis. The results showed that 46 genes were unevenly distributed on 8 chromosomes and divided into six sub-groups by phylogenetic analysis. The mainly stress-related cis-acting elements ABRE, MBS, ARE, LTR and hormone response element TCA-element, TGACG-motif, TGA-element were identified in the promoter regions of MYB-related genes. The results of gene expression analysis showed that 9 genes were up-regulated under drought stress, down-regulated after rewatering; 16 genes were down-regulated expression under drought stress while up-regulated expression after rewatering. In addition, 9 core genes responsive to drought stress were identified by co-expression network analysis. The results of qPCR showed that ZmMYBR24, ZmMYBR37, ZmMYBR55 and ZmMYBR89 genes were up-regulated under drought stress, and then down-regulated after rewatering. However, the transcript levels of ZmMYBR41, ZmMYBR78, ZmMYBR87 and ZmMYBR97 exhibited opposite trend. These results provide insight for further functional investigation of MYB-related genes.
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