Genome-wide identification, characterization, and expression profiling of 14-3-3 genes in legumes

Abstract

In plants, a large multigene family encodes 14-3-3 proteins, which are commonly found in eukaryotes. They are involved in plant development and environmental stress regulation. The current study aims to identify and characterize the 14-3-3 gene family in four important legumes, viz. Cicer arietinum, Cajanus cajan, Vigna radiata and Arachis hypogaea. The 14-3-3 proteins were clustered into ε and non-ε groups based on phylogenetic analysis, which was further confrmed by gene structure analysis, and motif composition analysis. Our study suggests that segmental duplication events played a pivotal role in the evolution and expansion of this gene family. Evidence of both stress-responsive, and hormone-responsive cis-regulatory elements in the promoter region of the 14-3-3 genes points to the possibility that they might be involved in the interplay between hormone and stress signalling pathways. The expression profling using RNA-seq data sets showed a variation in expression level in most 14-3-3 genes under multiple stress conditions, and in diferent developmental stages. Hence, this study afrms the participation of the 14-3-3 genes in multiple stress regulation, and in growth and development of the legumes. The results obtained from this study provide crucial information for improved understanding, and stress response analysis of the 14-3-3 gene family in C. arietinum, C. cajan, V. radiata and A. hypogaea.