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| Genome-wide Identification of the TCP Gene Family in Mulberry (Morus alba) and Its Expression Analysis During Leaf Development |
| LI Ru-Xia1, DONG Ya-Ru1, FU Rao1, CHEN Chuan-Jie1, CHEN Li-Chen2, GU Yin-Yu1, LI Meng1, LI Dong-Yang1,*, ZHANG Hai-Yang1,* |
1 Shandong Institute of Sericulture, Yantai 264002, China;
2 Zhaoyuan Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Yantai 265499, China |
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Abstract Mulberry (Morus alba) is an important economically and ecologically significant tree species. Leaf development directly influences mulberry leaves yield and quality, which is also one of the key indexes for identification and evaluation of mulberry varieties. The TCP transcription factor family plays pivotal roles in plant organogenesis and stress responses; however, its systematic characterization in mulberry has been limited to date. In this study, 22 TCP genes (MnTCPs) were identified in the mulberry genome, and their structural characteristics and expression patterns were systematically analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis classified the MnTCPs into 3 subfamilies—PCF, CIN and CYC/TB1. Genes within each subfamily exhibited conserved exon structures and motif compositions, whereas inter-subfamily differences were evident, including a characteristic amino acid deletion in the BASIC domain of CYC/TB1 subfamily members. Analysis of promoter cis-elements revealed that MnTCPs promoters contained abundant hormone-, light- and stress-responsive cis-elements. Expression analysis further revealed significant temporal and varietal divergence: in 'Luoyu 1', most MnTCPs showed peak expression at early developmental stages or exhibited minimal variation, whereas in 'Fengyuan1', the majority reached maximal expression in mature leaves. These findings suggested that MnTCPs might play critical roles in late-stage leaf development and adaptive responses. Overall, this study presents a genome-wide characterization of the TCP gene family in mulberry and provides a theoretical basis for elucidating their regulatory functions and advancing molecular breeding efforts.
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Received: 24 October 2025
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Corresponding Authors:
* ldytonylee@163.com; oceanz_zhy@163.com
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