Genome-wide identification and characterization of R2R3MYB family in Rosaceae

Transcription factors R2R3MYB family have been associated with the control of secondary metabolites, development of structures, cold tolerance and response to biotic and abiotic stress, among others. In recent years, genomes of Rosaceae botanical family are available. Although this information has been used to study the karyotype evolution of these species from an ancestral genome, there are no studies that treat the evolution and diversity of gene families present in these species or in the botanical family. Here we present the first comparative study of the R2R3MYB subfamily of transcription factors in three species of Rosaceae family (Malus domestica, Prunus persica and Fragaria vesca). We described 186, 98 and 86 non-redundant gene models for apple, peach and strawberry, respectively. In this research, we analyzed the intron–exon structure and genomic distribution of R2R3MYB families mentioned above. The phylogenetic comparisons revealed putative functions of some R2R3MYB transcription factors. This analysis found 44 functional subgroups, seven of which were unique for Rosaceae. In addition, our results showed a highly collinearity among some genes revealing the existence of conserved gene models between the three species studied. Although some gene models in these species have been validated under several approaches, more research in the Rosaceae family is necessary to determine gene expression patterns in specific tissues and development stages to facilitate understanding of the regulatory and biochemical mechanism in this botanical family.