Genome-wide analysis of glutathione S-transferase genes in four Prunus species and the function of PmGSTF2, activated by PmMYBa1, in regulating anthocyanin accumulation in Prunus mume

Like Qiu; Ke Chen; Jing Pan; Zhiyuan Ma; Jiaojiao Zhang; Jia Wang; Tangren Cheng; Tangchun Zheng; Huitang Pan; Qixiang Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.136506

Genome-wide analysis of glutathione S-transferase genes in four Prunus species and the function of PmGSTF2, activated by PmMYBa1, in regulating anthocyanin accumulation in Prunus mume

Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Oct 10:136506. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.136506. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Like Qiu¹, Ke Chen¹, Jing Pan¹, Zhiyuan Ma¹, Jiaojiao Zhang¹, Jia Wang¹, Tangren Cheng¹, Tangchun Zheng², Huitang Pan³, Qixiang Zhang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Ornamental Plants Germplasm Innovation & Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Floriculture, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Engineering Research Center of Landscape Environment of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants of Ministry of Education, School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Ornamental Plants Germplasm Innovation & Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Floriculture, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Engineering Research Center of Landscape Environment of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants of Ministry of Education, School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhengtangchun@bjfu.edu.cn.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Ornamental Plants Germplasm Innovation & Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Floriculture, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Engineering Research Center of Landscape Environment of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants of Ministry of Education, School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: htpan@bjfu.edu.cn.
⁴ Beijing Key Laboratory of Ornamental Plants Germplasm Innovation & Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Floriculture, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Engineering Research Center of Landscape Environment of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants of Ministry of Education, School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zqx@bjfu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39395520
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.136506

Abstract

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are proteases with multiple physiological functions and play an important role in plant responses to abiotic stresses. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of systematic research on GST genes in Prunus genus. Here, 330 GST genes in four Prunus species were identified for the first time and classified into eight subgroups based on protein sequence and conserved structure, among which Tau subfamily genes had the largest number. The amino acid lengths of GST-encoded proteins in the four species ranged from 66 to 1152 aa, most of which were soluble proteins and located in the cytoplasm and chloroplasts. The GST family was propelled by tandem duplications, yet robust purifying selection constrained its divergence. Conserved motif and domain analysis revealed that the majority of PmGSTs exhibited a highly conserved GST-N structure. The expression pattern of PmGSTs exhibited tissue specificity and spatiotemporal specificity. qRT-PCR validated the transcriptome results and 11 genes were differentially expressed in varieties with different flower and stem colors. In addition, we discovered an anthocyanin-related gene PmGSTF2, which can effectively restore the anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin deficiency-related phenotypes of the Arabidopsis tt19 mutant. Recombinant PmGSTF2 enhanced the water solubility of cyanidin and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside in vitro. Moreover, PmMYBa1 could directly bind to the promoter of PmGSTF2 and activate its expression. The findings revealed that GSTs were preserved in Prunus species and that PmGSTF2 was critical in regulating anthocyanin accumulation.

Keywords: Anthocyanin accumulation; Glutathione S-transferase; PmGSTF2; Prunus mume; Transportation.