Identification and expression analysis of papain-like cysteine proteases gene family and response to B. cinerea stress in F. vesca.

BACKGROUND: Papain-like cysteine protease (PLCP), a vital subgroup of peptidases, play crucial roles in various biological processes including plant growth, seed germination, anther development, and stress responses. RESULTS: In this study, 44 FvPLCP genes were identified through phylogenetic tree analysis and divided into 9 groups. Chromosomal localization revealed that the FvPLCP genes are unevenly distributed on 7 chromosomes. The Ka/Ks results demonstrated that FvPLCP genes have predominantly undergone purifying selection during evolution. The phylogenetic tree and motif analysis results indicated that FvPLCP genes has a conserved domain and different subfamilies have special motifs, suggesting that different subfamily members have different functions. The cis-element analysis indicated that FvPLCPs contains a significant number of cis-elements under biotic and abiotic stress. The single-cell transcriptome and dual transcriptome of woodland strawberry in response to B. cinerea indicated that the subfamily members of FvPLCP genes exhibit specific expression in different cell types and infection stages. RT-qPCR and strawberry fruit transient expression experiments showed that the FvPLCP genes may be involved in the strawberry defense process against B. cinerea by participating in the hormone pathway. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provided a theoretical basis for further elucidating the role of FvPLCP genes in response to biotic stress.