IDENTIFICATION OF GENES ENCODING STRESS-ASSOCIATED PROTEINS CONTAINING THE DOMAINS A20/AN1 IN THE APPLE GENOME IN SILICO AND ANALYSIS OF THEIR PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIP

Stress-associated proteins (SAPs) are the transcription factors containing the zinc-finger domains A20 and/or AN1. Genome-wide identification and characterization of an apple variety of Golden Delicious stress-associated proteins was performed, potential SAPs were found. Each of them contains, at least, one zinc-finger domain AN1. A phylogenetic tree was constructed on the basis of the amino acid sequences of apple SAP and homologues from other species (dicotyledonous cotton and monocotyledonous rice) to assess their phylogenetic relationships. The sequences ahead of the translation initiation site of SAPs genes were analyzed to discover cis-elements involved in the gene expression regulation. The analysis shows that apple SAPs are involved in a complex network of regulatory elements that controls the vitality of plant cells. It can be assumed that the expression of SAPs in apple trees occurs constantly, but if conditions of a plant growth are changed, their level increases. Regulation of the SAP expression may depend on a plant ontogenesis stage and it may vary in different tissues.