Abstract:To reveal the molecular characteristics and expression pattern of C4H genes in moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), six C4H gene members (PeC4H1-PeC4H6) from moso bamboo genomic database were identified by bioinformatics method. The length of gene coding region ranged from 1 506 to 1 695 bp, encoding 501-564 aa, and all of them have conserved heme binding domain, threonine binding channel motif and five characteristic substrate recognition sites, which belong to the cytochrome P450 superfamily. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the six PeC4Hs could be divided into two classes, containing 2 and 4 members, respectively. Transcriptome analysis showed that there were significant differences in the expression of PeC4Hs in 26 tissues of moso bamboo, and the expression of PeC4Hs in bamboo shoots at different heights were different by qPCR. There were a variety of cis-regulatory elements in response to stress and hormone signals in the promoter sequences of PeC4Hs. The expression of PeC4Hs was affected by drought and GA3. Under drought, only PeC4H3/4 expression was significantly up-regulated in roots, while others were down-regulated. Treated by GA3, the expression of PeC4H3/6 in leaves was responded rapidly and significantly up-regulated at first and then gradually decreased. The expression of PeC4H2/5 in roots was briefly down-regulated in the first hour and then significantly increased, finally recovered to the untreated level at 8 h. Therefore, PeC4Hs might play an important role in the lignification process of bamboo shoot and the response to abiotic stress.
