Genome-wide identification, evolution and expression analysis of mTERF gene family in maize

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 4; p. e94126
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yanxin, Cai, Manjun, Zhang, Xiaobo, Li, Yurong, Zhang, Jianhua, Zhao, Hailiang, Kong, Fei, Zheng, Yonglian, Qiu, Fazhan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01-04-2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Acclimation; Acclimatization; Adaptation, Physiological - genetics; Amino Acid Motifs; Amino Acid Sequence; Analysis; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis thaliana; Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - chemistry; Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - classification; Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - genetics; Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - physiology; Binding sites; Bioinformatics; Biology and Life Sciences; Chlamydomonas; Chloroplast Proteins - chemistry; Chloroplast Proteins - classification; Chloroplast Proteins - genetics; Chloroplast Proteins - physiology; Chloroplasts; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes, Plant - genetics; Conserved Sequence; Corn; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA microarrays; Gene Duplication; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - drug effects; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - radiation effects; Genes; Genes, Plant; Genetic aspects; Genomes; Genomics; Hormones; Laboratories; Light; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial DNA; Mitochondrial Proteins - chemistry; Mitochondrial Proteins - classification; Mitochondrial Proteins - genetics; Mitochondrial Proteins - physiology; Models, Molecular; Molecular Sequence Data; Organ Specificity; Phylogeny; Physiological aspects; Plant Growth Regulators - pharmacology; Plant hormones; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plant Proteins - chemistry; Plant Proteins - classification; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - physiology; Plastids; Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics; Protein Conformation; Proteins; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Salts; Salts - pharmacology; Seedlings; Seedlings - drug effects; Seedlings - growth & development; Seedlings - metabolism; Seedlings - radiation effects; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Species Specificity; Transcription termination; Zea mays; Zea mays - drug effects; Zea mays - genetics; Zea mays - growth & development; Zea mays - radiation effects
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094126

Plant mitochondrial transcription termination factor (mTERF) genes comprise a large family with important roles in regulating organelle gene expression. In this study, a comprehensive database search yielded 31 potential mTERF genes in maize (Zea mays L.) and most of them were targeted to mitochondria or chloroplasts. Maize mTERF were divided into nine main groups based on phylogenetic analysis, and group IX represented the mitochondria and species-specific clade that diverged from other groups. Tandem and segmental duplication both contributed to the expansion of the mTERF gene family in the maize genome. Comprehensive expression analysis of these genes, using microarray data and RNA-seq data, revealed that these genes exhibit a variety of expression patterns. Environmental stimulus experiments revealed differential up or down-regulation expression of maize mTERF genes in seedlings exposed to light/dark, salts and plant hormones, respectively, suggesting various important roles of maize mTERF genes in light acclimation and stress-related responses. These results will be useful for elucidating the roles of mTERF genes in the growth, development and stress response of maize.