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Nitrogen, one of the essential elements, is a key determinant for improving peanut growth and yield. GATA zinc finger transcription factors have been found to be involved in regulation of nitrogen metabolism. However, a systematic characterization of the GATA gene family and patterns of their expression under different nitrogen levels remains elusive. In this study, a total of 45 GATA genes distributed among 17 chromosomes were identified in the peanut genome and classified into three subfamilies I, II and III with 26, 13 and 6 members, respectively, whose physicochemical characteristics, gene structures and conserved motifs were also analyzed. Furthermore, the optimal level of nitrogen fertilizer on the growth of peanut cultivar Yuhua 23 was determined by pod yield and value cost ratio from 2020 to 2022, and the results revealed that 150 kg hm−2 nitrogen was the best for cultivation of peanut Yuhua 23 because of its highest pod yield and relatively higher VCR of more than four. In addition, expression patterns of peanut GATA genes under different nitrogen levels were detected by real-time quantitative PCR and several GATA genes were significantly changed under a nitrogen level of 150 kg hm−2. Overall, the above results would be helpful for further understanding biological functions of the GATA gene family in cultivated peanut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High oleic acid peanut (HOAP) is extensively embraced in China because of its high nutritional value and enhanced oxidative stability. However, its dissemination has been severely constrained in high altitude and high latitude areas due to chilling stress during sowing, resulting in significant yield loss in these regions. Despite the lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying low temperature germination (LTG) in HOAP, discovering the quantitative trait loci (QTL) that confer this trait will undoubtedly benefit breeding efforts. In the present study, we identified putative genomic regions and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that govern LTG tolerance of HOAP in an F2 population derived from the cross of chilling-tolerant YH65 and chilling-sensitive FL14 using bulk segregant analysis (BSA). Analysis of ΔSNP-index and Euclidean distance (ED) value association pinpointed the overlapped region to a 2.29 Mb interval on chromosome A05. The candidate interval showed that 122 genes were significantly related to response to abiotic stress and plant–pathogen interaction. Furthermore, an SNP site associated with LTG tolerance was discovered. The SNP site was employed as a Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) marker and validated in a universal peanut panel. These findings may provide valuable insight into the molecular mechanism underpinning LTG tolerance and facilitate marker-assisted selective breeding in HOAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gibberellic acid-stimulated Arabidopsis (GASA) gene family is essential for plant growth and development, hormone level control, and phytohormone signal transmission. Different plants have been shown to contain numerous GASA homologs. However, there is no knowledge about these proteins in peanuts. In the current study, we performed a thorough bioinformatics and expression analysis and found 20, 22, and 40 GASA genes by genome-wide analyses of A. hypogaea L., A. duranensis, and A. ipaensis, respectively. We analyzed and predicted the physical properties of these genes. Based on the results of our phylogenetic analysis, the evolutionary tree constructed from the 40 AhGASA proteins was divided into seven categories, forming a total of 14 gene pairs. According to our observations, tandem duplication is a significant factor in the expansion of the GASA gene family. AhGASA was unevenly distributed on 20 chromosomes, and 17 tandem duplicated genes were identified. A co-lineage analysis with the A/B subgenome identified 69 linear/parallel homologous gene pairs. A cis-element analysis revealed that the AhGASA protein is crucial for hormone responsiveness. In materials with different size traits at various stages of peanut pod development, transcriptomics and RT-qPCR analyses revealed that AhGASA genes are expressed at various levels and are tissue-specific. This finding suggests that some AhGASA genes may be involved in controlling peanut pod size. This study suggests that GASA genes are crucial for controlling the development of peanut pods and provides the first systematic identification and analysis of GASA genes in peanut. These findings will help future research into the function of the GASA gene in the cultivated peanut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]