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CORRECTION article

Front. Plant Sci., 12 February 2026

Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics

Volume 17 - 2026 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1781669

Correction: Genome-wide identification and functional characterization of the two-component system gene family in petunia reveals roles in hormone signaling and stress response

This article is a correction to:

  1. Genome-wide identification and functional characterization of the two-component system gene family in petunia reveals roles in hormone signaling and stress response

    1. Read original article
Binbin DaiBinbin DaiJuntao HuoJuntao HuoLinxia ZhangLinxia ZhangPeishan ZouPeishan ZouMiaomiao SunMiaomiao SunSeping DaiSeping DaiGuofeng Liu*Guofeng Liu*
  • Guangzhou Collaborative Innovation Center on Science-Tech of Ecology and Landscape, Guangzhou Institute of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Guangzhou, China

A Correction on
Genome-wide identification and functional characterization of the two-component system gene family in petunia reveals roles in hormone signaling and stress response

By Dai B, Huo J, Zhang L, Zou P, Sun M, Dai S and Liu G (2025) Front. Plant Sci. 16:1721349. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1721349

There was a mistake in Figures 1–8 as published. The resolution of the figures was insufficient for clear visualization of the presented data. The corrected Figures 1–8 appears below.

Figure 1
Composite figure showing (A) a color-coded phylogenetic tree of gene families, (B) gene structure diagrams with yellow exon boxes and black intron lines along a kilobase scale, and (C) motif composition analysis displaying colored, numbered motifs along gene models with a motif legend on the right.

Figure 1. Phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, and conserved motifs of PaHK(L) genes. (A) Phylogenetic tree constructed based on the full-length sequences of 24 PaHK(L) proteins. (B) Exon–intron structure, analyzed with GSDS (yellow boxes: exons; black lines: introns). (C) Conserved motifs from PaHK(L) proteins are displayed in different colored boxes. The number below refers to the length of the protein.

Figure 2
Figure containing three panels labeled A, B, and C. Panel A shows a phylogenetic tree with gene names PaHP1 to PaHP7 and PaPHP1 to PaPHP3 grouped by blue and orange shading. Panel B presents gene structures with yellow rectangles for exons and black lines for introns, arranged by gene along a kilobase scale. Panel C displays rectangular schematic representations of genes with colored blocks labeled as motifs one to five, with a legend on the right indicating motif colors.

Figure 2. Phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, and conserved motifs of PaHP genes. (A) Phylogenetic tree constructed based on the full-length sequences of 10 PaHP proteins. (B) Exon–intron structure, analyzed with GSDS (yellow boxes: exons; black lines: introns). (C) Conserved motifs from PaHP proteins are displayed in different colored boxes. The number below refers to the length of the protein.

Figure 3
Phylogenetic tree and gene structure analysis for thirty genes with three panels: A shows a color-coded dendrogram; B presents yellow exon-intron gene structures aligned by gene names; C depicts motif architectures with differently colored motifs and a legend indicating motif numbers and their assigned colors.

Figure 3. Phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, and conserved motifs of PaRR genes. (A) Phylogenetic tree constructed based on the full-length sequences of 40 PaRR proteins. (B) Exon–intron structure, analyzed with GSDS (yellow boxes: exons; black lines: introns). (C) Conserved motifs from PaRR proteins are displayed in different colored boxes. The number below refers to the length of the protein.

Figure 4
Circular phylogenetic trees compare protein family evolution among Arabidopsis thaliana, Petunia axillaris, Solanum lycopersicum, Oryza sativa, and Zea mays using star and circle markers, with each panel (A, B, and C) showing distinct gene or protein groupings indicated by colored segments and clade labels.

Figure 4. Phylogenetic relationships of HK(L)s (A), HPs (B) and RRs (C) in Arabidopsis, rice, maize, tomato, and petunia. Different subfamilies are represented by different colors. Bootstrap values from 1000 replicates are shown at key nodes.

Figure 5
Genomic illustration on the left shows colored motif symbols aligned to gene loci for multiple genes, organized by hierarchical cluster dendrograms; adjacent heatmap-style grid on the right quantifies presence of various phytohormone-related and abiotic stress-related cis-elements for each gene, with counts in red-shaded boxes and a color legend identifying motif types.

Figure 5. Distribution (left) and number (right) of CREs identified in putative promoter regions of TCS genes in petunia. The numbers in the heatmap represent the quantity of elements.

Figure 6
Grid of thirty bar graphs showing relative gene expression for various gene names, including PaHK1, PaHK2, and others, across five tissue types labeled root, flower, fruit, stem, and leaf. Each plot displays vertical bars with error bars, and different lowercase letters indicate statistically significant differences among groups.

Figure 6. Organ-specific expression profiles of TCS genes in petunia. The relative expression level was normalized to the petunia EF1α gene and quantified using the 2−ΔCT method. Data represent mean ± SD (standard deviation) values from three biological replicates per tissue. Significant differences (letters a-d above the bars) among tissues were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test (p < 0.05).

Figure 7
Heatmap with panels A and B comparing relative expression levels of genes involved in plant signaling at four time points, shown by color gradients from blue (downregulation) to red (upregulation), with gene names listed on the right and a colored scale bar included for reference.

Figure 7. Heat map representation for the response patterns to exogenous tZ (A) and ABA (B) of TCS genes in petunia. Gene expression levels are presented using fold-change values transformed to Log2 format compared with control (0 h, value=0). The Log2 (fold-change values) and the color scale are shown at the right of heat map. Blue, white, and red represent low, medium, and strong expression, respectively. Asterisks denote statistical significance: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Detailed statistical analyses are provided in Supplementary Figure S6.

Figure 8
Heatmap panels labeled A and B display expression changes of twenty-four genes over four time points, with gene names listed vertically and time points horizontally. Color gradients from red to blue indicate expression changes ranging from upregulation to downregulation, with statistical significance marked by asterisks. Color legends range from negative four to positive four.

Figure 8. Heat map representation for the response patterns to drought treatment (A) and salt treatment (B) of TCS genes in petunia. Gene expression levels are presented using fold-change values transformed to Log2 format compared with control (0 h, value=0). The Log2 (fold-change values) and the color scale are shown at the right of heat map. Blue, white, and red represent low, medium, and strong expression, respectively. Asterisks denote statistical significance: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Detailed statistical analyses are provided in Supplementary Figure S6.

The original version of this article has been updated.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Keywords: petunia, two-component system (TCS), cytokinin signaling, gene expression profiling, response regulator

Citation: Dai B, Huo J, Zhang L, Zou P, Sun M, Dai S and Liu G (2026) Correction: Genome-wide identification and functional characterization of the two-component system gene family in petunia reveals roles in hormone signaling and stress response. Front. Plant Sci. 17:1781669. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1781669

Received: 06 January 2026; Accepted: 28 January 2026; Revised: 09 January 2026;
Published: 12 February 2026.

Edited and reviewed by:

Yunpeng Cao, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China

Copyright © 2026 Dai, Huo, Zhang, Zou, Sun, Dai and Liu. 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) and the copyright owner(s) 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: Guofeng Liu, Z3ppZmxhX2xnZkBnei5nb3YuY24=

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.