Whole-genome identification, evolutionary decipherment, and expression profiling analyses of alcohol dehydrogenase family members in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.)

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) proteins are essential to plant development and participate in various stress responses. However, whole-genome identification, evolutionary history and expression characteristics of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) ADH genes remain lagging. In this study, we identified 58 Glycine max ADH (GmADH) genes from the Wm82.a2.v1 soybean genome, which were classified into four clades and unevenly distributed on 19 chromosomes. GmADH members in the same clades showed analogies in gene structures, motif patterns and protein structures. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses demonstrated that GmADHs might be involved in distinct biological processes. The segmental duplications were found to be the major force in deriving new GmADH genes. Syntenic and evolutionary investigations proved that the GmADH genes underwent strong purifying selections during evolution. The screening of cis-elements and putative binding transcription factors (TFs) in promoter regions as well as the expression profiling explorations revealed the different regulatory roles of GmADH genes during soybean development, flooding, drought and salt stresses. This work provides valuable insights for future gene functional research, which may boost the applications of favorable GmADH gene resources in soybean genetic improvement.