Genome-wide Identification And Expression Analysis Under Abiotic Stresses Of The AP2/ERF Gene Family In Triticum Aestivum

The main goal of the current research was the studies on wheat AP2/ERF gene family.The AP2/ERF is a large protein family of transcription factors,playing an important role in signal transduction,plant growth,development,and response to various stresses.AP2/ERF super-family is identified and functionalized in a different plant but no comprehensive and systematic analysis in wheat(Triticum aestivum L.)has been reported.However,a genome-wide and functional analysis was performed and identified 322 Ta AP2/ERF putative genes from the wheat genome.According to the phylogenetic and structural analysis,Ta AP2/ERF genes were divided into 12 subfamilies(?a,?b,?c,?a,?b,?c,?a,?b,?c,?a,?b,?c).Furthermore,conserved motifs and introns/exons analysis revealed may lead to functional divergence within clades.Cis-Acting analysis indicated that many elements were involved in stress-related and plant development.Chromosomal location showed that 320 AP2/ERF genes were distributed among 21 chromosomes and 2 genes were present in a scaffold.Interspecies microsynteny analysis revealed that maximum orthologous between Arabidopsis,rice followed by wheat.Segment duplication events have contributed to the expansion of the AP2/ERF family and made this family larger than rice and Arabidopsis.Additionally,AP2/ERF genes were differentially expressed in wheat seedlings under the stress treatments of heat,salt,and drought,and expression profiles were verified by qRT-PCR.Remarkably,the RNA-seq data exposed that AP2/ERF gene family might play a vital role in stress-related.Taken together,our findings provided useful and helpful information to understand the molecular mechanism and evolution of the AP2/ERF gene family in wheat.