Identification and Expression Specificity Analysis of the MYC Gene Family in Licorice (Glycyrrhiza sp.)
MA Hong-Xia, OUYANG Xu, CHENG Lin-Yuan, SUN Yu, YAO Hua*, SHEN Hai-Tao*
1 College of Life Sciences/Key Laboratory of Phytomedicinal Resources, Ministry of Education, Xinjiang/Key Laboratory of Oasis Town and Mountain-Basin System Ecology Corps, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China; 2 Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830004, China
Abstract：Jasmonic acid plays an important role in regulating active ingredient synthesis in response to abiotic stress in licorice (Glycyrrhiza sp.). MYC is a key transcription factor of the jasmonic acid signaling pathway, which is involved in regulating the expression of downstream genes in response to jasmonic acid in plants. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to analyze the MYC gene family of licorice and to analyze its expression pattern in different tissue. At the same time, the correlation between the expression of MYC genes and the changes in the jasmonic acid content of licorice under drought stress was also analyzed to understand the key MYC genes involved in the response to abiotic stress in licorice. The results showed that there were a total of 28 MYC genes in the 3 licorice species, including 10 in G. uralensis, and 9 each in G. glabra and G. inflata. Based on the phylogenetic relationships, they were classified into 4 subfamilies, with similar gene structures and conserved motifs in the same subfamily. The MYC genes with high homology in 3 species of G. glabra were at similar sites on the chromosome and had similar expression characteristics, GuMYC2b, GiMYC2 and GgMYC2 were highly expressed in the whole plant of licorice, GubHLH14b, GibHLH14b and GgbHLH14b were mainly expressed in the root. 10% PEG6000 simulated drought stress treatment of G. uralensis showed that the changes in the expression levels of GuMYC2b, GubHLH14a and GubHLH13a genes in the underground parts had a similar trend of changes with the content of jasmonic acid and were induced to be expressed by exogenous spraying of jasmonic acid, and the drought stress also promoted the accumulation of jasmonic acid content. The results suggested that these genes may be the main MYC genes regulated by jasmonic acid in response to abiotic stress. The present study provides a research basis for the next step in the breeding of stress-resistant licorice and the study of the mechanism of stress resistance.
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