Identification of the 14-3-3 Gene Family in Rafflesia cantleyi

Rafflesia is known to be the largest flower in the world. Due to its size and appearance, it is considered to be very unique. Little is known about the molecular biology of this rare parasitic flowering plant as it is very difficult to locate and has a short life-span as a flower. Physiological activities in plants are regulated by signalling regulators such as the members of the 14-3-3 gene family. The number of members of this gene family varies in plants and there are thirteen known members in Arabidopsis thaliana. Their role is to hind to phosphorylated targets to complete signal transduction processes. Sequence comparison using BLAST of transcriptome data from three different Rafflesia cantleyi floral bud stages against the Swissprot database revealed 27 transcripts annotated as members of this gene family. All of the transcripts were expressed during floral bud stage 1 (SI) while 14 and four transcripts were expressed during floral bud stages 2 (S2) and 3 (S3), respectively. Significant downregulation was recorded for six and nine transcripts at SI vs. S2 and S2 vs. S3 respectively. This gene family may play a critical role as signalling regulators during the development of Rafflesia tloral bud.