Abstract

The WRKY transcription factors family, which participates in many physiological processes in plants, constitutes one of the largest transcription factor families. The Asterales and the Apiales are two orders of flowering plants in the superorder Asteranae. Among the members of the Asterales, globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus L.), sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) are important economic crops worldwide. Within the Apiales, ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) and Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen are important medicinal plants, while carrot (Daucus carota subsp. carota L.) has significant economic value. Research involving genome-wide identification of WRKY transcription factors in the Asterales and the Apiales has been limited. In this study, 490 WRKY genes, 244 from three species of the Apiales and 246 from three species of the Asterales, were identified and categorized into three groups. Within each group, WRKY motif characteristics and gene structures were similar. WRKY gene promoter sequences contained light responsive elements, core regulatory elements, and 12 abiotic stress cis-acting elements. WRKY genes were evenly distributed on each chromosome. Evidence of segmental and tandem duplication events was found in all six species in the Asterales and the Apiales, with segmental duplication inferred to play a major role in WRKY gene evolution. Among the six species, we uncovered 54 syntenic gene pairs between globe artichoke and lettuce. The six species are thus relatively closely related, consistent with their traditional taxonomic placement in the Asterales. This study, based on traditional species classifications, was the first to identify WRKY transcription factors in six species from the Asteranae. Our results lay a foundation for further understanding of the role of WRKY transcription factors in species evolution and functional differentiation.

Highlights

  • WRKY transcription factors, which constitute one of the largest transcription factor families in plants, are involved in growth, development, and biotic and abiotic stress processes

  • The drought tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana was enhanced after ZmWRKY106 gene overexpression with drought response was identified in monocotyledon maize [5]

  • We used the HMMER program with the HMM profile of the WRKY domain (PF03106) as a query to search for WRKY genes in A. thaliana and six species of the Asteranae

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Summary

Introduction

WRKY transcription factors, which constitute one of the largest transcription factor families in plants, are involved in growth, development, and biotic and abiotic stress processes. WRKY transcription factors can participate in various plant hormone signaling pathways, such as the gibberellin (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) pathways, and regulate other physiological processes, including fruit ripening and leaf senescence [1,2]. HaWRKY10 is regulated by ABA and GA, thereby reducing carbohydrate metabolism and improving lipid metabolism in sunflower seeds [3]. WRKY transcription factors encoding genes in lettuce are mainly expressed in leaves and can regulate bolting [4]. The drought tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana was enhanced after ZmWRKY106 gene overexpression with drought response was identified in monocotyledon maize [5].

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