Journal Article

Genome-wide identification, structural characterization and gene expression analysis of the WRKY transcription factor family in pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Weng, Wenfeng, Xue, Guoxing, Ma, Chao, Wu, Weijiao, He, Ailing, Ruan, Jingjun, Yao, Xin, Zhou, Hui, Bai, Qing, Xiong, Ruiqi, Peng, Zhonghua

2024

Overview

Background The WRKY gene family is one of the largest families of transcription factors in higher plants, and WRKY transcription factors play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in response to abiotic stresses; however, the WRKY gene family in pea has not been systematically reported. Results In this study, 89 pea WRKY genes were identified and named according to the random distribution of PsWRKY genes on seven chromosomes. The gene family was found to have nine pairs of tandem duplicates and 19 pairs of segment duplicates. Phylogenetic analyses of the PsWRKY and 60 Arabidopsis WRKY proteins were performed to determine their homology, and the PsWRKYs were classified into seven subfamilies. Analysis of the physicochemical properties, motif composition, and gene structure of pea WRKYs revealed significant differences in the physicochemical properties within the PsWRKY family; however, their gene structure and protein-conserved motifs were highly conserved among the subfamilies. To further investigate the evolutionary relationships of the PsWRKY family, we constructed comparative syntenic maps of pea with representative monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants and found that it was most recently homologous to the dicotyledonous WRKY gene families. Cis-acting element analysis of PsWRKY genes revealed that this gene family can respond to hormones, such as abscisic acid (ABA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), gibberellin (GA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and salicylic acid (SA). Further analysis of the expression of 14 PsWRKY genes from different subfamilies in different tissues and fruit developmental stages, as well as under five different hormone treatments, revealed differences in their expression patterns in the different tissues and fruit developmental stages, as well as under hormone treatments, suggesting that PsWRKY genes may have different physiological functions and respond to hormones. Conclusions In this study, we systematically identified WRKY genes in pea for the first time and further investigated their physicochemical properties, evolution, and expression patterns, providing a theoretical basis for future studies on the functional characterization of pea WRKY genes during plant growth and development.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Abiotic stress / Abscisic acid / Acetic acid / Agricultural research / Agriculture / Amino acids / Arabidopsis / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Cell cycle / Chromosomes / Developmental stages / DNA binding proteins / Endocrine therapy / family / Fruits / Gene expression / Gene Expression Profiling / Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Gene families / Gene mapping / Genes / Genes, Plant / Genetic aspects / Genome-wide identification / Genomes / Genomics / Gibberellins / growth and development / Homology / Hormone treatment / Hormones / Identification and classification / indole acetic acid / Indoleacetic acid / Legumes / Life Sciences / Localization / Methyl jasmonate / Molecular weight / Multigene Family / Peas / Phylogenetics / Phylogeny / Physicochemical properties / Physiological aspects / Pisum sativum / Pisum sativum - genetics / Pisum sativum L / Plant genetics / Plant growth / Plant Proteins - metabolism / Plant Sciences / Protein structure / Proteins / regulatory sequences / Salicylic acid / Signal transduction / Soybeans / Stress, Physiological - genetics / Structural analysis / Structure / Synteny / Transcription factor / Transcription factors / Transcription Factors - genetics / Transcription Factors - metabolism / Tree Biology / WRKY gene family