Background: The lateral organ boundaries domain (LBD) gene is a plant-specific transcription factor that plays a critical role in diverse biological processes. However, the evolution and functional divergence of the LBD gene family has not yet been characterized for the Chinese White Pear.
Results: In our study, a total of 60 PbrLBDs were identified in the pear genome. The PbrLBD gene family was divided into two classes based on gene structure and phylogenetic analysis: class I (53) and class II (7). Cis-acting element analysis results suggested that PbrLBDs may participate in various biological processes, such as flavonoid biosynthetic and stress response. Synteny analysis results indicated that segmental duplication played a key role in the expansion of the PbrLBD gene family. The mean Ks and 4DTv values showed that the PbrLBD gene family had undergone only one recent whole-genome duplication event occurring at 30-45 MYA. Purifying selection was a primary force during the PbrLBD gene family evolution process. Transcriptome data analysis revealed that 10 PbrLBDs were expressed in all six examined tissues, and 73.33% of members in the PbrLBD gene family were expressed in pear sepal. qRT-PCR was conducted to verify the expression levels of 11 PbrLBDs in these six tissues. Specifically, PbrLBD20, PbrLBD35 and PbrLBD53 genes were down-regulated when anthocyanin concentrations were high, whereas PbrLBD33 was significantly up-regulated in pear when anthocyanin concentrations were high. Furthermore, PbrLBD20, one of the candidate genes related to anthocyanins was localized in the nucleus.
Conclusions: Our analysis provides valuable information for understanding the evolution of the PbrLBD gene family, and provides new insights into the regulation of pear pigment metabolism and lays a foundation for the future disclosure of the molecular mechanism of LBD gene regulating flavonoid metabolism.
Keywords: Anthocyanins biosynthesis; Gene expression; LBD gene family; Pyrus; Synteny analysis.