Identification of the Light-Harvesting Chlorophyll a/b Binding Protein Gene Family in Peach ( Prunus persica L.) and Their Expression under Drought Stress

In higher plants, light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b binding (Lhc) proteins play a vital role in photosynthetic processes and are widely involved in the regulation of plant growth, development, and response to abiotic stress. However, the gene family has not been well identified in peaches ( L.). In this study, 19 genes were identified in the peach genome database, which were unevenly distributed on all chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that PpLhc proteins could be divided into three major subfamilies, each of whose members had different exon-intron structures but shared similar conserved motifs. A total of 17 different kinds of cis-regulatory elements were identified in the promoter regions of all genes, which could be classified into three categories: plant growth and development, stress response, and phytohormone response. In addition, transcriptomic data analysis and RT-qPCR results revealed that the expression profiles of some genes changed under drought treatment, suggesting the crucial roles of genes in the regulation of plant tolerance to drought stress. Taken together, these findings will provide valuable information for future functional studies of genes, especially in response to drought stress.