Abstract
WRKY transcription factors play crucial roles in regulation mechanism leading to the adaption of plants to the complex environment. In this study, AhWRKY family was comprehensively analyzed using bioinformatic approaches in combination with transcriptome sequencing data of the drought-tolerant peanut variety ‘L422’. A total of 158 AhWRKY genes were identified and named according to their distribution on the chromosomes. Based on the structural features and phylogenetic analysis of AhWRKY proteins, the AhWRKY family members were classified into three (3) groups, of which group II included five (5) subgroups. Results of structure and conserved motifs analysis for the AhWRKY genes confirmed the accuracy of the clustering analysis. In addition, 12 tandem and 136 segmental duplication genes were identified. The results indicated that segmental duplication events were the main driving force in the evolution of AhWRKY family. Collinearity analysis found that 32 gene pairs existed between Arachis hypogaea and two diploid wild ancestors (Arachis duranensis and Arachis ipaensis), which provided valuable clues for phylogenetic characteristics of AhWRKY family. Furthermore, 19 stress-related cis-acting elements were found in the promoter regions. During the study of gene expression level of AhWRKY family members in response to drought stress, 73 differentially expressed AhWRKY genes were obtained to have been influenced by drought stress. These results provide fundamental insights for further study of WRKY genes in peanut drought resistance.
Highlights
The WRKY transcription factors are one of the largest families of transcriptional regulators in plants and form an integral part of signaling networks that regulate many plant processes [1]
The particularizations including open reading frame lengths (ORF), amino acid numbers, molecular weights (MW), isoelectric point, and the predicted subcellular locations are all shown in S2 Table
Results from the predicted subcellular localization showed 155 Arachis hypogaea WRKYs (AhWRKYs) proteins were located in the nuclear region, whereas one protein was located in the cell membrane
Summary
The WRKY transcription factors are one of the largest families of transcriptional regulators in plants and form an integral part of signaling networks that regulate many plant processes [1]. They are important to plant growth by regulating development and responding to stresses [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. WRKY transcription factors regulate gene expression by exclusively binding to W-. Analysis of WRKY gene family under drought stress in peanut. Hebei Oil Innovation Team of Modern Agroindustry Technology Research System (HBCT2018090202); the Science and Technology Supporting Plan Project of Hebei Province (16226301D); and the Innovation Fund Project for Graduate Student of Hebei Province (CXZZBS2019093)
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