Comparative genomic analysis of mitogen activated protein kinase gene family in grapevine

Mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are important proteins involved in the signal transduction of extracellular information to intracellular targets, and play a crucial role in the response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Although Arabidopsis MAPKs are used for identification of the putative MAPKs in higher plants, no grapevine MAPK gene nomenclature has yet been appeared in the literature. In this study, we have identified 12 members of grapevine MAPK gene (VvMPK) family via In-silico analysis of current grapevine genome database. The structural comparison of 12 VvMPKs through the analysis of chromosome locations, sequence annotation and paralogous gene pair indicated that VvMPKs have evolved by segmental duplication, rather than by tandem amplification. Although further functional analysis of VvMPKs through in vivo and in vivo experiments will be required, our study provides the basis for future research on the diverse signaling pathways medicated by MAPKs in grapevine.