Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of ZF-HD Gene Family in Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis)

Zinc finger-homeodomain (ZF-HD) proteins play essential roles in plant growth, development and stress responses. However, knowledge of the expression and evolutionary history of ZF-HD genes in moso bamboo remains limited. In this study, a total of 24 ZF-HD genes were found unevenly distributed on 12 chromosomes in moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that PeZF-HDs were divided into two subfamilies: ZHD and MIF. The ZHD subfamily genes were further classified into seven groups according to their orthologous relationships among the rice and Arabidopsis ZF-HD gene family. The gene structures and conserved motifs of PeZF-HDs were analyzed. Whole-genome duplication (WGD) or segmental duplication promoted the evolution and expansion of the moso bamboo ZF-HD gene family. Ka/Ks ratios suggested that the twenty-four duplication pairs had undergone purifying selection. Promoter analysis showed that most PeZF-HDs contained cis-elements associated with stress responses and hormones. Expression analysis demonstrated that many PeZF-HDs were responsive to abiotic stress treatment. Overall, this work investigated PeZF-HD genes in moso bamboo using bioinformatic approaches. The evolutionary research on gene structure, motif distribution and cis-regulatory elements indicated that PeZF-HDs play distinct roles in biological processes, which provides a theoretical basis for exploring the physiological functions of ZF-HDs and selecting candidate stress-related genes in moso bamboo.