Transcriptome analysis and genome-wide identification of the dehydration-responsive element binding gene family in jackfruit under cold stress

Abstract

Abstract Background Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) is the world’s largest and heaviest fruit and adapts to hot, humid tropical climates. Low-temperature injury in winter is a primary abiotic stress, which affects jackfruit growth and development. Therefore, breeding cold-resistant varieties and identifying the vital genes in the process of cold resistance are essential. The dehydration-responsive element binding (DREB) gene family is among the subfamily of the APETALA2/ethylene response factor transcription factor family and is significant in plant abiotic stress responses. Methods In this study, a comparative analysis of the cold resistance property of ‘GuangXi’ (‘GX’) and ‘Thailand’ (‘THA’) jackfruit strains with different cold resistance characteristics was performed through chlorophyll fluorescence and transcriptome sequencing. Results We found that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are significantly enriched in the metabolic processes. Here, 93 DREB genes were identified in the jackfruit genome, and phylogenetic analysis was used to classify them into seven groups. Gene structure, conserved motifs, chromosomal location, and homologous relationships were used to analyze the structural characteristics of the DREB family. Transcriptomics indicated that most of the AhDREB genes exhibited down-regulated expression in ‘THA.’ The DEGs AhDREB12, AhDREB21, AhDREB29, and AhDREB34 were selected for quantitative real-time PCR, and the results showed that these genes also had down-regulated expression in ‘THA.’ Conclusions The above results suggest the significance of the DREB family in improving the cold resistance property of ‘GX.’