Comprehensive Identification and Expression Profiling of Lipoxygenase Genes in Sweet Cherry During Fruit Development

Lipoxygenase (LOX) is involved in the oxidation of fatty acids in plants and is a ubiquitous oxygenase that plays an important role in the process of plant resistance to adversity. In this study, the LOX gene family in the sweet cherry genome was identified by bioinformatics methods, the chromosomal mapping of different LOX genes was carried out, and the homology alignment and functional domain analysis of the encoded proteins were performed. The results showed that there were nine LOX gene sequences in the sweet cherry LOX gene family, and the subcellular localization was mainly located in the cytoplasm, chloroplast, or plasma membrane, and was concentrated on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8. During the ripening process of sweet cherry fruits, the LOX gene family showed five different expression patterns, the expression peak of different LOX genes reached the peak of expression at a specific development period, all LOX genes jointly promoted the growth and development of fruits, the enzyme activities of LOX in different varieties of early and late ripening cherries exhibited great differences during the development process, and the results of volatile content in the later stages also showed that different varieties of cherries had their specificity. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for further revealing the specific functions of LOX gene family members in sweet cherry.