Computational analysis of transcription factor MADS-box in Brachypodium distachyon

Flower initiation is an important factor influencing plant yield. Environmental factors significantly affect flowering initiation. Bioinformatic analysis was performed on MADS-box transcription factors which are considered as important components in the flower formation. Brachpodium is a new experimental model which used to understand the genetic, cellular mechanism and molecular biology of plants. In this study, 43 sequences of Brachypodium MADS-box genes were analyzed using phylogeny relationships, conserved motifs, chromosomal location, detection of transcription factor binding sites, and amino acid composition. The aim of this study was to better identify molecular mechanisms related to flowering. In this study, results showed that MADS-box genes distribute on all Brachypodium chromosomes, while gene clusters were located on all chromosomes except chromosome five. Analysis of the amino acid composition revealed that lucine, serine, and glutamate, with the highest amount, and tryptophan, with the least amount, elicit appreciable flowering. Based on the phylogeny analysis the genes were divided to four clusters. Tajima test indicated the presence of balancing selection in MADS-box sequences and as a result polymorphism is conserved in the sequences. Thus, the total diversity in MADS-box genes were high. Overall, our results provided useful information for the survey of flowering response genes, thereby detection of molecular mechanism and intergenic relationships facilitate flowering pathway.