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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1394337

Comprehensive analyses of the ARF gene family in cannabis reveals their potential roles in regulating cannabidiol biosynthesis and male flower development

Provisionally accepted
Gen Pan Gen Pan 1,2,3Xiao J. Yang Xiao J. Yang 3*Jia J. He Jia J. He 1*Zhen Y. Liu Zhen Y. Liu 1*Fengming Chen Fengming Chen 1*Jia y. Chen Jia y. Chen 1*
  • 1 Changsha Medical University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
  • 2 Hunan Academy of Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Anhui Province, China
  • 3 Institute of Bast Fiber Crops and Center for Southern Economic Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, Hunan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cannabidiol (CBD), as an important therapeutic property of the cannabis plants, is mainly produced in the flower organs. Auxin response factors (ARFs) are play a crucial role in flower development and secondary metabolite production. However, the specific roles of ARF gene family in cannabis remain unknown. In this study, 22 CsARF genes were identified and found to be unevenly distributed across 9 chromosomes of the cannabis genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the ARF proteins were divided into 4 subgroups. Duplication analysis identified one pair of segmental/whole-genome duplicated CsARF, and three pairs of tandemly duplicated CsARF.Collinearity analysis revealed that two CsARF genes, CsARF4 and CsARF19, were orthologous in both rice and soybean. Furthermore, subcellular localization analysis showed that CsARF2 was localized in the nucleus. Tissue-specific expression analysis revealed that six genes were highly expressed in cannabis male flowers, and among these genes, 3 genes were further found to be highly expressed at different developmental stages of male flowers. Meanwhile, correlation analysis between the expression level of CsARF genes and CBD content in two cultivars 'H8' and 'Y7' showed that the expression level of CsARF13 was negatively correlated with CBD content, while the expression levels of six genes were positively correlated with CBD content. In addition, most of CsARF genes were responsive to IAA treatment. Our study laid a foundation for the further studies of CsARFs function in cannabis, and provides candidate genes for breeding varieties with high CBD yield in cannabis production.

    Keywords: Cannabis, Auxin response factor, male flower development, cannabidiol biosynthesis, CBD yield

    Received: 01 Mar 2024; Accepted: 20 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Pan, Yang, He, Liu, Chen and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xiao J. Yang, Institute of Bast Fiber Crops and Center for Southern Economic Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, 410205, Hunan Province, China
    Jia J. He, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, 410219, Hunan Province, China
    Zhen Y. Liu, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, 410219, Hunan Province, China
    Fengming Chen, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, 410219, Hunan Province, China
    Jia y. Chen, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, 410219, Hunan Province, China

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