Abstract:In order to understand the molecular characteristics and expression patterns of brassinolide (BL) receptor kinase genes in Phyllostachys edulis, the characters of BL receptor kinase genes in P. edulis were analyzed by using bioinformatics methods, and their expression patterns were studied by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The results showed that there were eight BL receptor kinase homologous genes named PeBRLs in P. edulis, belonging to four subfamilies. The PeBRLs encoded proteins contained 858-1 224 amino acid residues with molecular weight of 92-130 kDa. All PeBRLs contained three conserved domains in the kinase region endemic to BL receptor kinase, which indicating the structure of PeBRLs were relatively conservative. Moreover, they all had one transmembrane structure except PeBRL1-1 with two ones. All eight PeBRLs were predicted to be localized on the cell membrane belonging to the typical membrane chimeric protein. The results of qRT-PCR demonstrated that PeBRLs within subfamily had basically consistent expression patterns in different tissues, but there were obvious differences among PeBRLs in different subfamilies. The expression of PeBRLs showed four variation trends in bamboo shoots at different development stages. Therefore, it was suggested that PeBRLs might play different roles in different bamboo tissues and bamboo shoots at different development stages.