Identification and gene expression analysis of GATA transcription factor family in Nicotiana tabacum

GATA transcription factors play important roles in regulating growth, development and various stress responses of plants. To clarify the structure and function of GATA genes in tobacco, a total of 57 GATA gene family members were identified from the genome of Nicotiana tabacum using homology searching and domain identification, and these genes were named as NtGATA1-NtGATA57. Bioinformatics analyses of gene structure, conservative motifs and phylogeny showed that these genes with variable number of exons (1-17) could be classified into 4 subgroups. Within each subgroup, the amino acid sequences of core domains of each gene were very conservative. Transcriptomics data analysis indicated that most NtGATA genes expressed at different stages of leaf senescence, and different members of NtGATAs had different expression patterns. Real-time quantitative PCR found that 10 selected NtGATA genes had different response degrees to various abiotic stresses, such as cold, salt and drought stresses, which suggested that GATA gene family members might play important roles in tobacco leaf ripening, senescence and stress responding.