GENOME-WIDE IDENTIFICATION AND COMPUTATIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE NUCLEAR FACTOR-YC SUB-UNITS IN GRAIN AMARANTH (Amaranthus hypochondriacus)

Nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y) has been known as one of the plant-specific transcription factors that play key roles in numerous biological processes during the growth and development of plant species. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of NF-YC sub-units in grain amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) was carried out based on the bioinformatics approaches. Firstly, a total of five members of the NF-YC sub-units was reported in the grain amaranth. Its structural analyses revealed that the NF-YC sub-units were variable in physic-chemical properties, like protein sizes, molecular masses, isoelectric point, instability index, and grand average of hydropathy. Of our interest, the expression profiles of genes encoding NF-YC sub-units in various tissues\organs during the growth and development of grain amaranth. We found that three genes, including AhNF-YC01, AhNF-YC04, and AhNF-YC05 were highly expressed in leaf, root, floral, immature seed, and stem tissues. Interestingly, AhNF-YC05 was exclusively expressed in leaf and stem tissues. Taken together, our study could provide a solid understanding for further functional characterization of genes encoding NF-YC sub-units in grain amaranth.