Genome-Wide Analysis of Barley bHLH Transcription Factors and the Functional Characterization of <i>HvbHLH56</i> in Low Nitrogen Tolerance in Arabidopsis
Improvement of low nitrogen (LN) tolerance or nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crops is imperative for environment-friendly agriculture development. The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors are involved in multiple abiotic stresses and are suitable as candidate genes for improving LN...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/11/9740 |
| Summary: | Improvement of low nitrogen (LN) tolerance or nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crops is imperative for environment-friendly agriculture development. The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors are involved in multiple abiotic stresses and are suitable as candidate genes for improving LN tolerance. Few studies were performed on the characterization of the <i>HvbHLH</i> gene family and their function in response to LN stress in barley. In this study, 103 <i>HvbHLH</i> genes were identified through genome-wide analysis. HvbHLH proteins were classified into 20 subfamilies based on phylogenetic analysis in barley, which was supported by conserved motifs and gene structure analysis. The stress-related <i>cis</i>-element analysis in the promoters showed that <i>HvbHLHs</i> are probably involved in multiple stress responses. By phylogenetic analysis of <i>HvbHLHs</i> and bHLHs in other plants, some <i>HvbHLHs</i> were predicted to play roles in response to nutrition deficiency stress. Furthermore, at least 16 <i>HvbHLHs</i> were differentially expressed in two barley genotypes differing in LN tolerance under LN stress. Finally, overexpression of <i>HvbHLH56</i> enhanced LN stress tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis, suggesting it is an important regulator in LN stress response. The differentially expressed <i>HvbHLHs</i> identified herein may be valuable for the breeding of barley cultivars with LN tolerance. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |