Identification of the DEAD-box gene family and expression analysis of abiotic stress in potatoes

Unwinding enzymes are a group of highly conserved enzymes that play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in adverse and stress conditions. The DEAD-box family represents the largest subfamily of deconjugating enzymes. However, little research has been conducted on the DEAD-box RNA gene family (StRH) in potato. Identifying and screening members of the DEAD-box gene family in potato could help us to better understand the response of potatoes to adverse and stress conditions and the related tolerance mechanisms. We identified a total of 73 DEAD-box gene family members from the potato genome-wide database. A comprehensive bioinformatics study of the potato DEAD-box family was carried out by a range of analytical methods. The evolutionary tree demonstrated that the potato DEAD-box family was divided into five distinct taxa. Three pairs of segmental repeats were identified on the chromosomes. In addition, we selected nine DEAD-box genes for qPCR(Quantitative Real-time PCR), and the results indicated that all of these genes were involved in both the ABA hormone stress and drought stress. These findings may help to increase our understanding of the functional diversity of the potato DEAD-box gene family under different environmental stresses.

解旋酶（Unwinding enzymes）是一类高度保守的酶类，在植物生长发育及逆境胁迫条件中发挥关键作用。DEAD-box家族（DEAD-box family）是去结合酶家族中最大的亚家族。然而，目前针对马铃薯DEAD-box RNA基因家族（StRH）的相关研究仍较为匮乏。鉴定并筛选马铃薯DEAD-box基因家族成员，有助于我们更深入地解析马铃薯对逆境胁迫的响应机制及其相关耐受通路。本研究从马铃薯全基因组数据库中共鉴定出73个DEAD-box基因家族成员，并通过多种分析手段，对马铃薯DEAD-box家族开展了全面的生物信息学分析。进化树分析结果显示，马铃薯DEAD-box家族可划分为5个独立的进化类群。研究团队在染色体上共鉴定出3对片段重复事件。此外，本研究选取9个DEAD-box基因进行实时定量聚合酶链式反应（qPCR, Quantitative Real-time PCR）实验，结果表明这些基因均参与了脱落酸（ABA）激素胁迫与干旱胁迫应答过程。本研究结果可为进一步解析不同环境胁迫下马铃薯DEAD-box基因家族的功能多样性提供理论参考。