GATA transcription factor in common bean: a comprehensive genome-wide functional characterization, identification, and abiotic stress response evaluation

Abstract

AbstractThe GATA transcription factor has been extensively studied for its regulatory role in various biological processes in many plant species. The functional and molecular mechanism of GATA TFs in regulating tolerance to abiotic stress has not yet been studied in the common bean, a popular and commercially important crop affected by the intensifying climate change. This study analyzed the functional identity of the GATA gene family in the P. vulgaris genome under different abiotic and phytohormonal stress. TheGATAgene family was systematically investigated in theP. vulgarisgenome, and 31PvGATATFs were identified. The collinearity between the common bean, rice, andArabidopsiswas studied, and collinearity with Arabidopsis was higher than in rice. Among the 31PvGATAs, 18 showed duplicated events, which suggests the importance of gene duplication in contribution to GATA gene expansion. Furthermore, all thePvGATAgenes were classified into four major subfamilies, with eight, three, six, and 13 members in each subfamily (subfamilies I, II, III, and IV), respectively. A single GATA domain was also present in all PvGATA protein sequences, however, members of subfamily II contained additional domains like CCT and tify domains. The study also predicted and analyzed the promoter cis-regulatory elements (CREs). A total of 799 CREs was predicted in thePvGATAs, categorized into three categories, namely growth and development regulatory elements, stress-responsive elements, and phytohormone-responsive elements. The growth and development regulatory elements had the largest share of CREs in the promoter region ofPvGATAgenes. Additionally, we used qRT-PCR to investigate the expression profiles of fivePvGATAgenes in the common bean roots under abiotic and phytohormone treatments. The results suggest thatPvGATA1/10/25/28may play crucial roles in regulating plant resistance against salt and drought stress at 24 hours and may be involved in phytohormone-mediated stress signaling pathways. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of thePvGATAgene family, which can serve as a foundation for future research on the function ofGATATfs in abiotic stress tolerance in common bean plants.