Systematic analysis of CCCH zinc finger family in Brassica napus showed that BnRR-TZFs are involved in stress resistance

BACKGROUND: CCCH zinc finger family is one of the largest transcription factor families related to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses. Brassica napus L., an allotetraploid oilseed crop formed by natural hybridization between two diploid progenitors, Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea. A systematic identification of rapeseed CCCH family genes is missing and their functional characterization is still in infancy. RESULTS: In this study, 155 CCCH genes, 81 from its parent B. rapa and 74 from B. oleracea, were identified and divided into 15 subfamilies in B. napus. Organization and syntenic analysis explained the distribution and collinearity relationship of CCCH genes, the selection pressure and evolution of duplication gene pairs in B. napus genome. 44 diploid duplication gene pairs and 4 triple duplication gene groups were found in B. napus of CCCH family and the segmental duplication is attributed to most CCCH gene duplication events in B. napus. Nine types of CCCH motifs exist in B. napus CCCH family members, and motif C-X(7/8)-C-X(5)-C-X(3)-H is the most common and a new conserved CCH motif (C-X(5)-C-X(3)-H) has been identified. In addition, abundant stress-related cis-elements exist in promoters of 27 subfamily IX (RR-TZF) genes and their expression profiles indicated that RR-TZF genes could be involved in responses to hormone and abiotic stress. CONCLUSIONS: The results provided a foundation to understand the basic characterization and genes evolution of CCCH gene family in B. napus, and provided potential targets for genetic engineering in Brassicaceae crops in pursuit of stress-tolerant traits. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-021-03340-8.