Genome-Wide Identification of Sorghum Paclobutrazol-Resistance Gene Family and Functional Characterization of SbPRE4 in Response to Aphid Stress

Sorghum ( ), the fifth most important cereal crop globally, serves as a staple food, animal feed, and a bioenergy source. ( ) genes play a pivotal role in the response to environmental stress, yet the understanding of their involvement in pest resistance remains limited. In the present study, a total of seven genes were found within the sorghum BTx623 genome. Subsequently, their genomic location was studied, and they were distributed on four chromosomes. An analysis of cis-acting elements in promoters revealed that various elements were associated with hormones and stress responses. Expression pattern analysis showed differentially tissue-specific expression profiles among genes. The expression of some genes can be induced by abiotic stress and aphid treatments. Furthermore, through phytohormones and transgenic analyses, we demonstrated that improves sorghum resistance to aphids by accumulating jasmonic acids (JAs) in transgenic Arabidopsis, giving insights into the molecular and biological function of atypical basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors in sorghum pest resistance.