Characterization of the WRKY Gene Family Related to Anthocyanin Biosynthesis and the Regulation Mechanism under Drought Stress and Methyl Jasmonate Treatment in Lycoris radiata

Abstract

Lycoris radiata, belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family, is a well-known Chinese traditional medicinal plant and susceptible to many stresses. WRKY proteins are one of the largest families of transcription factors (TFs) in plants and play significant functions in regulating physiological metabolisms and abiotic stress responses. The WRKY TF family has been identified and investigated in many medicinal plants, but its members and functions are not identified in L. radiata. In this study, a total of 31 L. radiata WRKY (LrWRKY) genes were identified based on the transcriptome-sequencing data. Next, the LrWRKYs were divided into three major clades (Group I–III) based on the WRKY domains. A motif analysis showed the members within same group shared a similar motif component, indicating a conservational function. Furthermore, subcellular localization analysis exhibited that most LrWRKYs were localized in the nucleus. The expression pattern of the LrWRKY genes differed across tissues and might be important for Lycoris growth and flower development. There were large differences among the LrWRKYs based on the transcriptional levels under drought stress and MeJA treatments. Moreover, a total of 18 anthocyanin components were characterized using an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis and pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside-5-O-arabinoside as well as cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside were identified as the major anthocyanin aglycones responsible for the coloration of the red petals in L. radiata. We further established a gene-to-metabolite correlation network and identified LrWRKY3 and LrWRKY27 significant association with the accumulation of pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside-5-O-arabinoside in the Lycoris red petals. These results provide an important theoretical basis for further exploring the molecular basis and regulatory mechanism of WRKY TFs in anthocyanin biosynthesis and in response to drought stress and MeJA treatment.

Genome Identification and Characterization of WRKY Transcription Factor Gene Family in Mandarin (Citrus reticulata)

“…the control. CrWRKY10, 46,45,24,29,3,26,35,42,4,18,44,13,20,14) showed slightly high pression than the control but less than CrWRKY28. The expression analysis of s genes (CrWRKY9/21/32/7/5/22/8) showed slightly higher expression in the control.…”

“…When plants are exposed to cold, their gene expressions are changed [13]. Many plant species have already been identified and characterized with the WRKY gene family (Table 1) due to their complicated functions in plant growth and development (both Angiosperms and Gymnosperms) [14]. [25] Moss (Physcomitrella patens) 38 [25] Grape-vine plant VvWRKY1 transgenic tobacco (Nicotianatabacum) plants were susceptible to a fungus variety.…”

Genome-wide profiling of WRKY genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis in Erigeron breviscapus

“…A total of 14549 WRKY genes were recorded in the Plant Transcription Factor Database (PlantTFDB) ( Jin et al., 2017 ). Numerous studies have substantiated the close association between WRKY transcription factors and the biosynthesis of flavonoid metabolites ( Amato et al., 2017 ; Duan et al., 2018 ; Wang et al., 2023 ). The overexpression of AeWRKY32 ( Okra ) induced anthocyanin accumulation, with higher expression levels of AtCHS1 , AtCHI4 , AtF3H1 , and AtDFR2 in transgenic Arabidopsis ( Zhu et al., 2023 ).…”

“…Recently, an increasing interest has focused on WRKY transcription factors response to plant hormones and involved in flavonoid metabolism ( Schluttenhofer and Yuan, 2015 ; Vives-Peris et al., 2018 ; Xu et al., 2020 ; Yamamoto et al., 2020 ). LrWRKY3 transcription factor response to MeJA may specifically interact with the ANR and LAR gene and might be involved in anthocyanins synthesis in L. radiate , regulated the content of pelargonidin-3- O -glucoside-5- O -arabinoside in L. radiate ( Wang et al., 2023 ). VqWRKY31 also activated SA defense signaling and changed the accumulation of stilbenes, flavonoids, and proanthocyanidins ( Yin et al., 2022 ).…”

Establishing a Virus-Induced Gene Silencing System in Lycoris chinensis

“…In addition, the bulbs contain a large number of alkaloid compounds, which have anti-malarial and anti-tumor effects and are a treatment for senile dementia [3,4], so the plants also have important medicinal value. Due to the great ornamental and medicinal value of Lycoris, more and more transcriptomic data have been provided, and functional genes related to excellent breeding traits have been identified [5][6][7][8]. However, due to the lack of efficient genetic transformation, there has been no report on the gene function of Lycoris thus far.…”