Analysis of <i>PRX</i> Gene Family and Its Function on Cell Lignification in Pears (<i>Pyrus bretschneideri</i>)
2021
Zhihua Xie | Weikang Rui | Yazhou Yuan | Xiaofei Song | Xing Liu | Xin Gong | Jianping Bao | Shaoling Zhang | Khanizadeh Shahrokh | Shutian Tao
Class III peroxidases (PRXs) are plant-specific enzymes that play key roles in the responses to biotic and abiotic stress during plant growth and development. In addition, some peroxidases also play roles in plant lignification. In this study, a total of 114 <i>PRX</i> (designated <i>PbPRXs</i>) genes were identified in the pear (<i>Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd</i>) genome based on systematic analysis. These <i>PRX</i> genes were divided into 12 groups based on their phylogenetic relationships. We performed systematic bioinformatics analysis of the <i>PRX</i> genes, including analysis of gene structures, conserved motifs, phylogenetic relationships, and gene expression patterns during pear fruit growth. The <i>PbPRXs</i> are unevenly distributed on the 17 pear chromosomes and some of them on other scaffolds. Gene duplication event analysis indicated that whole-genome duplication (WGD) and segmental duplication play key roles in <i>PRX</i> gene amplification. Ka/Ks analysis suggested that most duplicated <i>PbPRXs</i> experienced purifying selection, with limited functional divergence during the duplication events. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that those highly expressed genes might play significant roles in the lignification of cells to form stone cells in pear fruit. We examined the expression of those highly expressed genes during fruit growth using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), verifying differential expression patterns at different stages of fruit. This study provides useful information for further functional analysis of the <i>PRX</i> gene family in pears.
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