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 genomewide 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 Kbox 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.