Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an important vegetable crop worldwide. Over the last two decades, there have been many breakthroughs in the understanding of various developmental processes in cucumber, such as shoot branching, sex differentiation, and leaf and fruit size and shape. Roots play an important role in plant growth and development and nutrient absorption, affect crop yield, and participate in the interaction between plants and abiotic stress signals. However, the discovery of essential genes in cucumber roots is very limited. MYB36 is a critical transcription factor for whole development that negatively regulates cell proliferation and thus orchestrates Casparian strip (CS) formation in the root endodermis. To identify CsMYB36 genes with functions in the CS of cucumber and their responses to stress, we described in detail the characteristics of the CsMYB36 gene family in cucumber in this study. A total of 15 CsMYB36 genes were found in the cucumber genome. Through phylogenetic and tissue-specific expression analysis, CsaV3_2G008030.1 and CsaV3_3G036040.1 were selected as candidates regulating CS formation. In addition, all CsMYB36s were found to have anaerobic induction elements, indicating that MYB36 is likely to be highly responsive to anaerobic environments, such as waterlogging. We also identified one potential candidate CsMYB36 (CsaV3_1G013560.1) that participates in high-temperature stress responses. This work provides valuable information for understanding the characteristics of the CsMYB36 gene family in cucumber and provides new clues for researchers to study high temperature, waterlogging stress and the formation of CS.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an important vegetable crop worldwide. Over the last two decades, there have been many breakthroughs in the understanding of various developmental processes in cucumber, such as shoot branching, sex differentiation, and leaf and fruit size and shape. Roots play an important role in plant growth and development and nutrient absorption, affect crop yield, and participate in the interaction between plants and abiotic stress signals. However, the discovery of essential genes in cucumber roots is very limited. MYB36 is a critical transcription factor for whole development that negatively regulates cell proliferation and thus orchestrates Casparian strip (CS) formation in the root endodermis. To identify CsMYB36 genes with functions in the CS of cucumber and their responses to stress, we described in detail the characteristics of the CsMYB36 gene family in cucumber in this study. A total of 15 CsMYB36 genes were found in the cucumber genome. Through phylogenetic and tissue-specific expression analysis, CsaV3_2G008030.1 and CsaV3_3G036040.1 were selected as candidates regulating CS formation. In addition, all CsMYB36s were found to have anaerobic induction elements, indicating that MYB36 is likely to be highly responsive to anaerobic environments, such as waterlogging. We also identified one potential candidate CsMYB36 (CsaV3_1G013560.1) that participates in high-temperature stress responses. This work provides valuable information for understanding the characteristics of the CsMYB36 gene family in cucumber and provides new clues for researchers to study high temperature, waterlogging stress and the formation of CS.