Maize WRKY Transcription Factor ZmWRKY106 Confers Drought and Heat Tolerance in Transgenic Plants

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Dan Zhao¹  Chang-Tao Wang¹  Meng Li¹  Jun-Feng Yang²  Zhao-Shi Xu³  Jin-Dong Fu³  Jing-Na Ru³  Yong-Wei Liu⁴ 

[1] Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health/Beijing Key Lab of Plant Resource Research and Development, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China;Hebei Wangfeng Seed Industry Co., Ltd., Xingtai 054900, China;Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Triticeae Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100081, China;Institute of Genetics and Physiology, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences/Plant Genetic Engineering Center of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050051, China;

关键词: WRKY;    ZmWRKY106;    drought tolerance;    thermotolerance;    maize;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms19103046

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

WRKY transcription factors constitute one of the largest transcription factor families in plants, and play crucial roles in plant growth and development, defense regulation and stress responses. However, knowledge about this family in maize is limited. In the present study, we identified a drought-induced WRKY gene, ZmWRKY106, based on the maize drought de novo transcriptome sequencing data. ZmWRKY106 was identified as part of the WRKYII group, and a phylogenetic tree analysis showed that ZmWRKY106 was closer to OsWRKY13. The subcellular localization of ZmWRKY106 was only observed in the nucleus. The promoter region of ZmWRKY106 included the C-repeat/dehydration responsive element (DRE), low-temperature responsive element (LTR), MBS, and TCA-elements, which possibly participate in drought, cold, and salicylic acid (SA) stress responses. The expression of ZmWRKY106 was induced significantly by drought, high temperature, and exogenous abscisic acid (ABA), but was weakly induced by salt. Overexpression of ZmWRKY106 improved the tolerance to drought and heat in transgenic Arabidopsis by regulating stress-related genes through the ABA-signaling pathway, and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) content in transgenic lines was reduced by enhancing the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxide dismutase (POD), and catalase (CAT) under drought stress. This suggested that ZmWRKY106 was involved in multiple abiotic stress response pathways and acted as a positive factor under drought and heat stress.

【 授权许可】

Unknown