Identification and analysis of the SAURs in Prunus sibirica

In the present study, we identified the members of the small auxin-up RNA (SAUR) gene family in Prunus sibirica and analyzed their localization, phylogeny, duplication, cis-elements in the promoter, and expression patterns. In total, 57 PsSAURs were identified, which were randomly distributed along eight chromosomes. Among them, eight and ten pairs of segmentally duplicated genes and tandem duplication genes were found in 13 and 21 PsSAURs, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the PsSAURs were divided into five groups (Group A–E). Light-responsive, methyl jasmonate, abscisic acid, salicylic acid, and gibberellin, as well as low-temperature responsiveness, and defense and stress responsiveness were identified by analyzing PsSAURs promoter sequences. The collinearity analysis of P. sibirica SAURs and Prunus mume and Prunus persica SAURs family genes detected 35 and 59 pairs of gene pairs, respectively, and the Ks values of all collinearity gene pairs were almost less than 1. Expression pattern analysis showed that PsSAURs had different tissue and stage expression patterns. However, research on SAURs in non-model plants remains limited, and studies on the expression and function of SAURs are lacking. This study pro­vides a foundation for further investigations into the functional analyses of SAURs in P. sibirica.