Characteristics and Expression Analysis of the MYB-Related Subfamily Gene in Rosa chinensis

MYB-related transcription factors (TFs) subfamily is a subfamily of MYB TFs, which are mainly involved in plant secondary metabolism, growth and development, and stress response. To explore the function of MYB-related subfamily genes in <i>Rosa chinensis</i>, this study systematically analyzed characters of the MYB-related subfamily members in <i>R</i>. <i>chinensis</i> with bioinformatic analysis using the genomic data of <i>R</i>. <i>chinensis</i> and investigated their expression characteristics using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The results show that 100 MYB-related proteins were identified in <i>R</i>. <i>chinensis</i>. Proteins are mainly found in the nucleus. Chromosome localization revealed that all MYB-related genes are mapped to seven chromosomes and are distributed in clusters. Collinear analysis shows that 13 pairs of MYB-related genes had a collinear relationship, indicating <i>R. chinensis</i> may have evolved its MYB-related subfamily gene through fragment duplication. The analysis of motifs and conserved domains shows that Motif 3 is the most conserved motif. There are numerous ABA and MeJA response elements in MYB-related genes. ABA and MeJA treatments significantly shortened the vase life of <i>R. chinensis</i>, while the flower diameter on day 3 was the largest, suggesting that ABA and MeJA might induce MYB-related gene expression during cut flower senescence. The expression of MYB-related genes is tissue specific, most of which show the highest expression levels in petals. Notably, among six plant growth regulator treatments, ABA treatment significantly increased <i>RcMYB002</i> expression in <i>R. chinensis</i>, suggesting that <i>RcMYB002</i> may be a crucial gene for ABA response. This study provides a reference for further research on the function of MYB-related genes in <i>R</i>. <i>chinensis</i>.