Identification and expression analysis of transcription factors in alfalfa under low temperature stress

Numerous studies have shown that transcription factors are important in regulating plant development and responses to various biotic/abiotic stressors. Low temperature stress could result in lowered production, reduced overwintering rate and a decrease in sustainability. In the present study, the identification and gene expression model of the transcription factors in alfalfa under low temperature stress (4 ℃) were analysed by the high-through put RNA-Seq technology. The results showed that a total of 78 925 Unigene sequences and 3 448 differently expressed genes were produced in our study. There were 43 transcription factor families, and a total of 251 genes were identified from all differently expressed genes. The expression model of these differently expressed transcription factor genes was different. This study facilitates the understanding of the expression model and verifies the related function of these low temperature response transcription factor genes in alfalfa.