Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of the Genes Encoding Q-Type C2H2 Zinc Finger Proteins in Grapevine.

Q-type C2H2 zinc finger proteins (ZFPs), the largest family of transcription factors, have been extensively studied in plant genomes. However, the genes encoding this transcription factor family have not been explored in grapevine genomes. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a genome-wide identification of genes in three species of grapevine, namely , , and , based on the sequence databases and phylogenetic and their conserved domains. We identified 52, 54, and 55 members of Q-type C2H2 in , , and , respectively. The physical and chemical properties of VvZFPs, VrZFPs, and VaZFPs were examined. The results showed that these proteins exhibited differences in the physical and chemical properties and that they all were hydrophobic proteins; the instability index showed that the four proteins were stable. The subcellular location of the in the grapevine was predicted mainly in the nucleus. The phylogenetic tree analysis of the amino acid sequences of VvZFP, , , and proteins showed that they were closely related and were divided into six subgroups. Chromosome mapping analysis showed that , , and were unevenly distributed on different chromosomes. The clustered gene analysis showed that the motif distribution was similar and the sequence of genes was highly conserved. Exon and intron structure analysis showed that 118 genes of were intron deletion types, and the remaining genes had variable numbers of introns, ranging from 2 to 15. Cis-element analysis showed that the promoter of contained multiple cis-elements related to plant hormone response, stress resistance, and growth, among which the stress resistance elements were the predominant elements. Finally, the expression of genes was determined using real-time quantitative PCR, which confirmed that the identified genes were involved in response to methyl jasmonate (MeJA), abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), and low-temperature (4 °C) stress. -GFP and -GFP fusion proteins were localized in the nucleus of tobacco cells, and is the most responsive gene among all with the highest relative expression level to MeJA, ABA, SA and low-temperature (4 °C) stress. The present study provides a theoretical basis for exploring the mechanism of response to exogenous hormones and low-temperature tolerance in grapes and its molecular breeding in the future.