In-silico analysis of eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIFs) in response to environmental stresses in rice (Oryza sativa)

Eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIFs) are one of the most important components in protein synthesis in plants. Most of eIFs genes are involved in growth processes like embryogenesis, flowering, and different stresses. In the present study, an in silico analysis of 17 rice eIFs genes was conducted in response to environmental stresses. Analysis of bioinformatics performed included gene network, chromosomal map, transcriptional factor binding sites (TFBs) analysis, and phylogenetic relationships among the eIF genes in rice. The transcription of a gene is mainly regulated by TFBs that are specifically bound by regulatory proteins called transcription factors (TFs). Analysis of bioinformatics databases was performed to identify TFBs in eIFs genes using Plant Promoter Analysis (PlantPAN). The analysis of network gene revealed that eIFs and transcription factors organized the major gene networks and are mainly expressed in nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria, and chloroplast. Co-expression analysis has shown that interacting proteins tend to have similar expression profiles and tend to be localized to the same or adjacent compartment. Several TFBs including AP2/ERF, WRKY, bZIP, bHLH, GATA, and NAC/NAM were identified in our analysis. We found a positive correlation between eIFs promoter regions of genes and presence of TFBs. This paper is the first report on in silico analysis of eIFs genes in O. sativa. In this paper, we will focus on analysis of initiation factors and their expressions under environmental stresses and different developmental stages using microarray data.