Genome-Wide Analysis and Expression of <i>MYC</i> Family Genes in Tomato and the Functional Identification of <i>slmyc1</i> in Response to Salt and Drought Stress

oleh: Yang Feng, Senlin Zeng, Jinping Yan, Kunzhi Li, Huini Xu

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-03-01

Deskripsi

Myelocytomatosis (<i>MYC</i>) transcription factors are crucial mediators of the jasmonate signaling pathway, which mediates the growth and developmental processes of plants. However, the function of <i>MYC</i> genes in tomato, <i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> (<i>SlMYC</i>), remains poorly understood. In this study, we have identified 14 non-redundant <i>SlMYC</i> genes across the genome of tomatoes. Six of the twelve chromosomes included these genes, and four syntenic pairs of <i>SlMYC</i> were identified. According to the results of phylogenetic analysis, 14 <i>SlMYC</i> genes were clustered into classes I, II, III, and IV, and their functional domains were predicted. The <i>SlMYC</i> upstream promoter region contained a variety of light-, stress-, and hormone-response regulatory elements. The expression of the 14 <i>SlMYC</i> genes differed significantly across organs. <i>SlMYCs</i> primarily showed an upregulation trend after methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment. In contrast, after treatment with sodium chloride (NaCl), <i>SlMYCs</i> showed a trend of downregulation. However, there were differences in the expression patterns of <i>SlMYCs</i> after mannitol treatment. Using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas 9 (CRISPR/Cas 9) technology, the loss-of-function of <i>SlMYC1</i> (<i>slmyc1</i>) was obtained. The <i>slmyc1</i> tomato plants demonstrated reduced resistance to NaCl and mannitol stress compared to wild-type plants due to their shorter root length and higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) content. In brief, this study provides valuable information about the taxonomy of the <i>SlMYC</i> genes in tomato. It establishes a foundation for future research on the mechanism by which <i>SlMYC</i> influences plant development and stress response.