| Summary: | <i>Dendrobium officinale</i> Kimura et Migo is of great importance as a traditional Chinese herb due to its abundant metabolites. The family of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors widely exists in plants and plays an essential role in plant growth and development, secondary metabolism as well as responses to environmental changes. However, there is limited information on <i>bHLH</i> genes in <i>D. officinale</i>. In the present study, a total of 98 putative <i>DobHLH</i> genes were identified at the genomic level, which could be classified into 18 clades. Gene structures and conserved motifs in <i>DobHLH</i> genes showed high conservation during their evolution. The conserved amino acids and DNA bindings of DobHLH proteins were predicted, both of which are pivotal for their function. Furthermore, gene expression from eight tissues showed that some <i>DobHLH</i> genes were ubiquitously expressed while other <i>DobHLH</i> genes were expressed in the specific tissues. Expressional changes of <i>DobHLH</i> genes under MeJA and ABA treatments were detected by qRT-PCR. The protein–protein interactions between DobHLHs were predicted and several interactions were confirmed by yeast two hybrid. Therefore, our results here contribute to the understanding of <i>bHLH</i> genes in <i>D. officinale</i> and lay a foundation for the further functional study of its biological processes.
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