Identification and expression profiling analysis of TCP family genes involved in growth and development in maize.

The family is a group of plant-specific transcription factors. genes encode proteins harboring bHLH structure, which is implicated in DNA binding and protein-protein interactions and known as the TCP domain. TCP genes play important roles in plant development and have been evolutionarily and functionally elaborated in various plants, however, no overall phylogenetic analysis or expression profiling of genes in has been reported. In the present study, a systematic analysis of molecular evolution and functional prediction of family genes in maize (. L.) has been conducted. We performed a genome-wide survey of genes in maize, revealing the gene structure, chromosomal location and phylogenetic relationship of family members. Microsynteny between grass species and tissue-specific expression profiles were also investigated. In total, 29 genes were identified in the maize genome, unevenly distributed on the 10 maize chromosomes. Additionally, genes were categorized into nine classes based on phylogeny and purifying selection may largely be responsible for maintaining the functions of maize genes. What's more, microsynteny analysis suggested that genes have been conserved during evolution. Finally, expression analysis revealed that most genes are expressed in the stem and ear, which suggests that genes influence stem and ear growth. This result is consistent with the previous finding that maize genes represses the growth of axillary organs and enables the formation of female inflorescences. Altogether, this study presents a thorough overview of family in maize and provides a new perspective on the evolution of this gene family. The results also indicate that family genes may be involved in development stage in plant growing conditions. Additionally, our results will be useful for further functional analysis of the gene family in maize.