Genome-Wide Identification Transcriptional Expression Analysis of E2F-DP Transcription Factor Family in Wheat

Recent studies have shown that a variety of cytokines are involved in cell cycle regulation and that the E2F-DP transcription factor (TF) family is one of the important regulatory links. However, little is known about E2F-DP gene family members and their evolutionary and functional characteristics in plants, especially under stress conditions. Their characterization has not been performed in bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum ). In this study, 27 E2F-DP genes were identified from the wheat genome ( TaE2F-DP ). The phylogenetic analysis split these 27 genes into three groups. Five typical conserved motifs of TaE2F-DP protein ranging in length from 28 to 50 amino acid residues had been found. Using chromosome location, we found that the E2F-DP gene family members were distributed on all 21 chromosomes of wheat. Conjoint analysis indicated the association between E2F-DP genes in wheat and its three ancestors ( T. urartu , T. dicoccoides , and Aegilops tauschii ). Transcriptome analysis showed that in several genes, expression was stress related. To uncover the reason for induction expression patterns of TaE2F-DPs during abiotic and biotic stresses in wheat, the cis -regulatory elements functionally associated with stress responding and hormones in the promoter region of TaE2F-DPs were analyzed. In addition, qRT-PCR results further confirmed that these TaE2F-DP genes are involved in wheat stress response. In summary, this study provided evolutionary and functional information of TaE2F-DP gene family members and revealed the gene expression of different members under different stress treatments. These findings provide comprehensive insights into the E2F-DP family members in wheat and offer candidate E2F-DP genes for further researches on their roles in stress resistance and potential for improving wheat breeding programs.