PREDICTION OF DUPLICATION EVENTS IN THE PLATZ TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR IN CASSAVA (<i>Manihot esculenta</i>) SUGGESTS THE VARIATION OF THEIR FUNCTIONS IN DROUGHT CONDITION

The plant A/T-rich protein and zinc-binding protein (PLATZ) family has been regarded as one of the important plant-specific transcription factors that are involved in various biological processes during evolution. Unfortunately, the expansion of this gene family in cassava (Manihot esculenta) is hardly recognized. This recent work aims to explain the evolution of the MePLATZ gene family by using various bioinformatics tools. Based on the similarity, a total of eight duplicated MePLATZ genes, including seven duplicated pairs and one pair of three duplicated genes have been predicted in the MePLATZ gene family in cassava. Among them, segmental and tandem duplication events were noted to play a crucial role in the expansion of the MePLATZ gene family. We found that the majority of members of the MePLATZ genes contained three or four exons, while at least 10 conserved motifs have been found in the full-length protein sequences. Next, the MePLATZ family could be categorized into seven different groups similar to those described in the PLATZ family in other higher plant species. Interestingly, the expression levels of 17 duplicated MePLATZ genes in leaf samples under drought conditions suggested the hypothesis of the functional conservation, redundancy, and divergence that occurred in this family. Taken together, our study could provide a foundation to get insight into the MePLATZ gene family in cassava.