@Article{phyton.2026.080045,
AUTHOR = {Yuan Chen, Sumeera Asghar, Hanfei Li, Ju Cai, Yin You, Yan Li},
TITLE = {Genome-Wide Identification and Functional Characterization of <i>TIFY</i> Gene Family in <i>Verbena bonariensis</i> with Insights into <i>VbTIFY16</i>’s Role in Petal},
JOURNAL = {Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany},
VOLUME = {},
YEAR = {},
NUMBER = {},
PAGES = {{pages}},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/phyton/online/detail/26931},
ISSN = {1851-5657},
ABSTRACT = {The TIFY transcription factor family plays a major role in plant growth and development. Petal size is a very important agronomic characteristic in the ornamental species of <i>Verbena bonariensis</i>. This study identifies 16 <i>TIFY</i> genes (<i>VbTIFYs</i>) in the <i>V. bonariensis</i> genome. Phylogenetic reconstruction divided these genes into six distinct subclades, indicating a high degree of homology between Verbena bonariensis and Arabidopsis thaliana. Promoter sequence analysis illustrated that the promoters of TIFY genes harbor not only cis-acting elements related to hormone regulation, but also functional motifs involved in light responses and low-temperature adaptation. Chromosomal localization results shows that <i>VbTIFY</i> genes are distributed across six chromosomes of <i>V. bonariensis</i>. Synteny analysis revealed four significant pairs of homologous genes within the <i>VbTIFY</i> gene family. Tissue expression profiling based on RNA-seq data showed that all 16 <i>VbTIFY</i> genes exhibited tissue-specific expression patterns across different developmental stages. Subsequently, six highly expressed genes were selected for qRT-PCR validation. The results indicated that both <i>VbTIFY12</i> and <i>VbTIFY16</i> were highly expressed in flowers, with the expression level of <i>VbTIFY16</i> being 12.7-fold higher than that of <i>VbTIFY12</i>. Subsequently, we focused subcellular localization assay confirmed that VbTIFY16 protein was localized in the nucleus. Overexpression of <i>VbTIFY16</i> in transgenic tobacco significantly reduced petal size, and further cytological analysis revealed that this phenotypic change was caused by the inhibition of cell expansion. Collectively, this study provides a comprehensive transcriptional framework of the <i>TIFY</i> gene family in <i>V. bonariensis</i>, lays a theoretical foundation for elucidating the molecular mechanism of petal size regulation, and offers valuable candidate genes for molecular breeding of ornamental traits in <i>V. bonariensis</i>.},
DOI = {10.32604/phyton.2026.080045}
}