Identification of the VQ gene family and their responses to abiotic stresses in Litchi chinensis
[Objective]VQ proteins are plant-specific proteins with the conserved VQ motifs(Fxxh-VQxhTG),which play an important role in plant growth and development as well as in response to abiotic stresses.The role of the VQ gene family in litchi(Litchi chinensis)had not been systematically studied.We identified the LcVQ gene family members as well as their expression patterns in different tissues of ly-chee and their responses to abiotic stresses.This laid a foundation for studying its stress-resistant mecha-nism.[Methods]The sequences of LcVQ genes were obtained from the L.chinensis genome using bioin-formatics methods,and their physicochemical properties,subcellular localizations,gene structures,and conserved motifs were analyzed;a phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA 6.0 to analyze the phy-logenetic relationships of the VQ proteins in L.chinensis,Arabidopsis,and Oryza sat iv a;the responses to various abiotic stresses were verified by the quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR).[Results]A total of 18 LcVQ genes were identified from L.chinensis genome,named as LcVQ1-18,which were clustered into 9 subgroups.They were widely distributed on 11 of 15 chromosomes of lychee.The amino acid num-bers of LcVQ proteins were ranged from 111 to 427,and molecular weights from 12.48 kD to 45.49 kD.Subcellular localizations showed that except for LcVQ15 and LcVQ17 were localized at the cytoplasm,all other LcVQ proteins were localized at the nucleus.The LcVQ promoters contained a large number of growth and development,plant hormone,and stress-responsiveness related response elements.The LcVQ genes expression was varied at different tissues,which was divided into universal expression and specific expression.Under the treatment of low temperature,high temperature,drought,and salt stress,we found that 4,3,3,and 4 LcVQ genes were significantly up-regulated at 3 hours of treatment,respective-ly,indicating that these genes could respond to the abiotic stresses.[Conclusion]There are 18 VQ mem-bers in the L.chinensis genome with typical VQ binding domains and participate in different stress re-sponses.
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