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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1520786
This article is part of the Research Topic Multi-Omics, Genetic Evolution and Crop Domestication View all 14 articles

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of WRKY gene family in Sophora flavescens during tissue development and salt stress

Provisionally accepted
Jin Li Jin Li 1Xi Wang Xi Wang 1Junjie Lu Junjie Lu 2Huifang Song Huifang Song 1Haiying Lei Haiying Lei 1Tianzeng Niu Tianzeng Niu 1Ake Liu Ake Liu 1*
  • 1 Department of Life Science, Changzhi University, Changzhi, China
  • 2 College of Life Science, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Sophora flavescens is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb rich in various bioactive secondary metabolites, such as alkaloid and flavonoids, and exhibits remarkable resistance to abiotic stress. The WRKY transcription factor (TF) family is one of the largest plant-specific TF families and plays a crucial role in plant growth, development, and responses to abiotic stress. However, a comprehensive genome-wide analysis of the WRKY gene family in S. flavescens has not yet been conducted. In this study, we identified 69 SfWRKY genes from the S. flavescens genome and classified them into seven distinct subfamilies based on phylogenetic analysis. Transposed duplications and dispersed duplications were found to be the primary driving forces behind the expansion of the SfWRKY family. Additionally, several cis-acting elements related to stress response and hormone signaling were discovered within the promoter regions of SfWRKYs. Transcriptomic analyses across five tissues (leaves, flowers, pods, roots, and stems) revealed that genes exhibiting high expression levels in specific tissues generally showed high expression across all the examined tissues. Coexpression network constructed based on metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses of root and pod development indicated that SfWRKY29 may play significant role in regulating biosynthesis of secondary metabolites during the tissue development. The RT-qPCR results of gene expression analysis revealed that several SfWRKY genes were significantly induced in response to accumulation of secondary metabolites or salt stress. Our study systematically analyzed WRKY TFs in S. flavescens, which provides valuable reference data for further studies on key roles of SfWRKY genes in growth development as well as their responses under salt stress conditions.

    Keywords: Sophora flavescens, WRKY gene family, phylogenetic analysis, Tissue development, salt stress

    Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 26 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Wang, Lu, Song, Lei, Niu and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ake Liu, Department of Life Science, Changzhi University, Changzhi, China

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