Genome-Wide Identification of the EIN3/EIL Gene Family in Lonicera japonica and Functional Analysis of LjEIL3 under Drought Stress

XU Rong; LI Jinlong; CHEN Shuangcheng; ZHAO Danli

doi:10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2025.10.009

Abstract：Based on Lonicera japonica genome data,bioinformatics was utilized to identify members of the EIN3/EIL gene family in Lonicera japonica,and systematic analyses were conducted on their physicochemical properties,gene structure,gene expression patterns,and stress response.The results indicated that five LjEIL family members were identified at the whole-genome level in Lonicera japonica,encoding 592 to 682 amino acids,all of which were acidic hydrophilic nuclear proteins.Chromosomal localization revealed that the LjEIL genes were distributed across four chromosomes,and phylogenetic analysis classified them into two subfamilies:Class Ⅰ and Class Ⅲ.Gene structure analysis showed that all LjEIL genes contained the typical EIN3 domain,and their exon-intron composition was relatively simple.61 cis-acting elements were predicted in the promoter regions of the LjEIL genes,primarily light-responsive elements and elements such as methyl jasmonate,gibberellin,anaerobic induction,and low-temperature response were rich.Transcriptome data analysis revealed that the LjEIL genes exhibited typical tissue-and developmental stage-specific expression patterns,with LjEIL3 showing the highest expression levels in mature leaves,shoot tips,and young bud stage.qRT-PCR results indicated that drought stress could induce the expression of LjEIL genes,with LjEIL3 experiencing the greatest upregulation,and its expression level continued to increase as drought stress duration extended.Furthermore,Arabidopsis plants transformed with the LjEIL3 gene exhibited a significantly higher survival rate after 10 days of simulated drought treatment with 20％polyethylene glycol 6000 compared to the wild type,further confirming the positive regulatory role of LjEIL3 gene in drought stress.In summary,the LjEIL3 gene plays a functional role in regulating plant responses to drought stress,providing important genetic resources for stress-tolerant molecular breeding in Lonicera japonica.