Abstract
The WRKY gene family is an ancient plant transcription factor (TF) family with a vital role in plant growth and development, especially in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Although many researchers have studied WRKY TFs in numerous plant species, little is known of them in Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum). Based on the recently reported genome sequence of Tartary buckwheat, we identified 78 FtWRKY proteins that could be classified into three major groups. All 77 WRKY genes were distributed unevenly across all eight chromosomes. Exon–intron analysis and motif composition prediction revealed the complexity and diversity of FtWRKYs, indicating that WRKY TFs may be of significance in plant growth regulation and stress response. Two separate pairs of tandem duplication genes were found, but no segmental duplications were identified. Overall, most orthologous gene-pairs between Tartary and common buckwheat evolved under strong purifying selection. qRT-PCR was used to analyze differences in expression among four FtWRKYs (FtWRKY6, 74, 31, and 7) under salt, drought, cold, and heat treatments. The results revealed that all four proteins are related to abiotic stress responses, although they exhibited various expression patterns. In particular, the relative expression levels of FtWRKY6, 74, and 31 were significantly upregulated under salt stress, while the highest expression of FtWRKY7 was observed from heat treatment. This study provides comprehensive insights into the WRKY gene family in Tartary buckwheat, and can support the screening of additional candidate genes for further functional characterization of WRKYs under various stresses.
Highlights
Most plants grow in specific environments, they experience continual changes in their external conditions, plants have developed a series of complex mechanisms to withstand stresses [1, 2]
NJ tree indicated that the FtWRKYs could be divided into three main groups defined in previous research [11]
Group III had a different type of zinc-finger compared with groups I and instability index (II), and contained only seven members
Summary
Most plants grow in specific environments, they experience continual changes in their external conditions, plants have developed a series of complex mechanisms to withstand stresses [1, 2]. The WRKY family is one of the largest and most diverse TF families, and is related to the coordination of many physiological activities in the plant kingdom. It has been widely studied for its important role in regulating gene expression under adverse conditions [6 - 9]. According to the number of domains and features of the zinc-finger motif, the WRKY family can be divided into three distinct groups (I, II, and III) [10]. Groups I and II both exhibit a C2H2 zinc-finger motif, group I has two WRKY domains whereas group II has only one.
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