Abstract
BackgroundWRKY DNA-binding protein (WRKY) is a large gene family involved in plant responses and adaptation to salt, drought, cold and heat stresses. Sweet potato from the genus Ipomoea is a staple food crop, but the WRKY genes in Ipomoea species remain unknown to date. Hence, we carried out a genome-wide analysis of WRKYs in Ipomoea trifida (H.B.K.) G. Don., the wild ancestor of sweet potato.ResultsA total of 83 WRKY genes encoding 96 proteins were identified in I. trifida, and their gene distribution, duplication, structure, phylogeny and expression patterns were studied. ItfWRKYs were distributed on 15 chromosomes of I. trifida. Gene duplication analysis showed that segmental duplication played an important role in the WRKY gene family expansion in I. trifida. Gene structure analysis showed that the intron-exon model of the ItfWRKY gene was highly conserved. Meanwhile, the ItfWRKYs were divided into five groups (I, IIa + IIb, IIc, IId + IIe and III) on the basis of the phylogenetic analysis on I. trifida and Arabidopsis thaliana WRKY proteins. In addition, gene expression profiles confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that ItfWRKYs were highly up-regulated or down-regulated under salt, drought, cold and heat stress conditions, implying that these genes play important roles in response and adaptation to abiotic stresses.ConclusionsIn summary, genome-wide identification, gene structure, phylogeny and expression analysis of WRKY gene in I. trifida provide basic information for further functional studies of ItfWRKYs and for the molecular breeding of sweet potato.
Highlights
WRKY DNAbinding protein (WRKY) DNA-binding protein (WRKY) is a large gene family involved in plant responses and adaptation to salt, drought, cold and heat stresses
Identification of ItfWRKYs Ninety-six WRKY proteins encoded by 83 WRKY genes were identified in I. trifida
These WRKYs are designated as ItfWRKY1–ItfWRKY83 according to their positions on the chromosome
Summary
WRKY DNA-binding protein (WRKY) is a large gene family involved in plant responses and adaptation to salt, drought, cold and heat stresses. Sweet potato from the genus Ipomoea is a staple food crop, but the WRKY genes in Ipomoea species remain unknown to date. At the transcription level, regulating and inducing the temporal and spatial expression of transcription factor (TF) genes are the important approaches to obtain plant stress resistance [2]. WRKY TFs are involved in biotic stress responses [3, 6, 7], seed coat and trichome development [8,9,10], embryogenesis [11] and leaf senescence [12, 13] and in abiotic stress responses and adaptations.
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