Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of chitin-binding gene family in Brassica oleracea L. reveals its role in different disease resistance

Background: Chitinase, a category of pathogenesis-related proteins, is thought to play an important role in defending external stress in plants. However, comprehensive analysis of chitin-binding gene family has not yet been reported in cabbage ( Brassica oleracea L.), especially their roles in response to different diseases. Result in this study, A total of 20 chitinase genes were identified using a genome-wide search method. Phylogenetic analysis classified these genes into two groups. They were distributed unevenly across six chromosomes in cabbage, and all of them contained few introns (≤ 2). The results of colinear analysis showed that the cabbage genome contained 1–5 copies of each chitinase gene (excluding Bol035470 ) found in Arabidopsis . The heatmap of the chitinase gene family showed that these genes were expressed in various tissues and organs. In addition, under four different stresses of Fusarium wilt, powdery mildew, black spot and downy mildew, we detected 9, 5, 8 and 8 genes with different expression, respectively. Conclusions Our results provide insights for further understanding the role of chitinase in host plants response to different diseases.