bHLH transcription factor family identification, phylogeny, and its response to abiotic stress in Chenopodium quinoa .

The second-largest transcription factor superfamily in plants is that of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family, which plays an important complex physiological role in plant growth, tissue development, and environmental adaptation. Systematic research on the bHLH family will enable a better understanding of this species. Herein, authors used a variety of bioinformatics methods and quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) to explore the evolution and function of the 218 genes identified. A total of 218 CqbHLH transcription factor genes were identified in the whole genome, located on 18 chromosomes. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the CqbHLH and AtbHLH proteins to determine their homology, and the members were divided into 20 subgroups and one unclustered gene. Authors also analyzed 218 genes, conservative motifs, chromosome diffusion, and gene replication. The author constructed one Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree and a collinearity analysis map of the bHLH family in and six other plant species to study the evolutionary relationship and homology among multiple species. In addition, the expression levels of 20 members from different subgroups in various tissues, different fruit developmental stages, and six abiotic stresses were analyzed. Authors identified 218 genes and studied their biological functions, providing a basis for better understanding and further studying the family in quinoa.