Identification and Expression Characteristics of UDP-Glycosyltransferase Genes in Pear and Their Correlation with Arbutin Accumulation

Li, J.; Liu, S.; Cui, T.; Ding, B.; Zhou, Z.; Li, L.

Identification and Expression Characteristics of UDP-Glycosyltransferase Genes in Pear and Their Correlation with Arbutin Accumulation

2022

As sugar donors, UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) control many metabolic processes during plant growth and development and defend plants against biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, a total of 178 UGT genes were identified in the pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.) genome based on conserved plant secondary product glycosyltransferase motifs, and 140 of these genes were found to be distributed randomly on 17 chromosomes. The UGT genes were classified into 16 groups according to a phylogenetic analysis. Furthermore, RNA-seq data were used to analyze UGT gene expression in pear fruits and leaves at different developmental stages, as well as UGT gene expression characteristics under biotic and abiotic stress. Moreover, the content of the characteristic metabolite-arbutin in these tissues was assessed using high performance liquid chromatography. The relationship between UGT transcription levels and the concentration of arbutin during fruit development was examined, indicating that 11 UGT genes were significantly related to the glycosylation of arbutin. This study provides an important functional analysis of pear UGT genes and offers a basis for further research on the genetic regulation arbutin synthesis.

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