Searching for Hormonal Responsive Elements in the Promoter Regions of Key Genes within the Fragaria vesca genome

Fragaria vesca is the first genome sequenced within the Fragaria genus. Due to its high sequence identity it serves as a reference model for species such as the cultivated strawberry (F. x ananassa) and Fragaria chiloensis. Strawberry is a non-climacteric fruit, and its ripening seems to be coordinated by the action of some hormones like auxins (Aux) and abscisic acid (ABA). Nevertheless, there is still scarce genetic/molecular evidence. To comprehend the hormonal regulatory mechanism, it could be useful to identify some hormone recognition sites in the promoter regions of target genes. With this objective, we designed a bioinformatic workflow to identify ABA and AUX responsive elements in key genes involved in strawberry ripening. We develop a strategy to get automatically a list of candidate genes and their promoter regions (2000 bp upstream from 5’UTR). With this information, a search in Plantpan database was performed to identify different responsive elements. Then a redundant filter was performed and a detailed image with the location of each hormone-responsive element was built. To test this methodology, different ABA receptor genes (FvPYR1, FvPYL3 and FvPYL7) were analyzed. Each promoter region differs in the abundance and distribution of hormone-responsive elements, allowing us to recognize potential hormonal regulators for each gene. All of them have ABA responsive elements; FvPYL3 and FvPYL7 also have Aux responsive elements, although FvPYR1 does not have them. This indicates that these genes might have differential hormonal regulation. Acknowledgments to Fondecyt 1110792 and ANILLO ACT 1110 projects.