Identification and bioinformatics analysis of MADS-box family genes containing K-box domain in maize

The MADS-box family genes are involved in the development of plant roots, leaves, flowers, and fruits, and play a crucial role in plant growth and development. Studying MADS-box genes with K-box domain is crucial to distinguish different types of MADS-box genes. This study systematically analysed the genomic structural information of maize MADS-box family members containing the K-box Domain at the genome-wide level using the maize (Zea mays) B73 genome as the reference sequence, and provided insight into the biological functions of the maize MADS-box family containing the K-box domain. According to the findings, 52 MADS-box family genes with K-box domain were identified and divided into 4 subgroups. The distribution of motif in the same subgroup was found to be relatively conservative, and all of them had MADS-box conserved domain and K-box domain. Gene structure analysis showed that the introns and exons of the same subgroup genes have similar gene structure, and different types of genes containing the K-box domain showed different exon/intron structure characteristics. Chromosome mapping showed that 52 genes containing the K-box domain were unevenly distributed on the 10 chromosomes of maize, most of which were distributed at both ends of the chromosome and a small number of genes were distributed near the centromere. Based on the analysis of cis-acting elements of it up-stream promoter, it was found that MADS-box family genes may be involved in light response, IAA, GA, ABA, and LTR signal pathways, indicating that they play a certain role in stress response and hormone signal transduction. The expression analysis of genes with the K-box domain in maize leaves treated with auxin and gibberellin revealed that MADS-box genes may have a regulatory effect on certain plant hormones. Through the identification and bioinformatics analysis of MADS-box family genes containing the K-box domain, it is helpful to further study the function and pathway of MADS-box family genes, and provide a theoretical basis for further re-search for the molecular mechanism of maize growth and development.