Transcriptome-Wide Identification and Characterization of the <i>JAZ</i> Gene Family in <i>Mentha canadensis</i> L.
Jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) proteins are the crucial transcriptional repressors in the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling process, and they play pervasive roles in plant development, defense, and plant specialized metabolism. Although numerous <i>JAZ</i> gene families have been discovered acros...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/16/8859 |
| Summary: | Jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) proteins are the crucial transcriptional repressors in the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling process, and they play pervasive roles in plant development, defense, and plant specialized metabolism. Although numerous <i>JAZ</i> gene families have been discovered across several plants, our knowledge about the <i>JAZ</i> gene family remains limited in the economically and medicinally important Chinese herb <i>Mentha canadensis</i> L. Here, seven non-redundant <i>JAZ</i> genes named <i>McJAZ1</i>–<i>McJAZ7</i> were identified from our reported <i>M. canadensis</i> transcriptome data. Structural, amino acid composition, and phylogenetic analysis showed that seven McJAZ proteins contained the typical zinc-finger inflorescence meristem (ZIM) domain and JA-associated (Jas) domain as conserved as those in other plants, and they were clustered into four groups (A-D) and distributed into five subgroups (A1, A2, B1, B2, and D). Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that seven <i>McJAZ</i> genes displayed differential expression patterns in <i>M. canadensis</i> tissues, and preferentially expressed in flowers. Furthermore, the <i>McJAZ</i> genes expression was differentially induced after Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment, and their transcripts were variable and up- or down-regulated under abscisic acid (ABA), drought, and salt treatments. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that McJAZ proteins are localized in the nucleus or cytoplasm. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays demonstrated that McJAZ1-5 interacted with McCOI1a, a homolog of <i>Arabidopsis</i> JA receptor AtCOI1, in a coronatine-dependent manner, and most of McJAZ proteins could also form homo- or heterodimers. This present study provides valuable basis for functional analysis and exploitation of the potential candidate <i>McJAZ</i> genes for developing efficient strategies for genetic improvement of <i>M. canadensis</i>. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |