ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1602750
This article is part of the Research TopicAI-Assisted Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics Technologies in Medicinal PlantsView all articles
Systematic identification and analysis of WRKY transcription factors reveals the role of MrWRKY14 in Myrica rubra
Provisionally accepted
- Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou, China
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Bayberry (Myrica rubra) is a significant subtropical fruit tree, renowned for its distinctive flavor and high nutritional value. WRKY transcription factors are a class of plant-specific zinc-finger proteins that play critical roles in plant growth and development, secondary metabolism, and responses to abiotic stress. However, there is currently limited information about the WRKY gene family in bayberry. In this study, a total of 55 bayberry WRKY family members were identified, which were classified into 5 subfamilies, with each gene containing at least one WRKY domain. The bayberry WRKY genes exhibited significant variations in gene length and intron-exon numbers, while maintaining relatively conserved gene structures within each subfamily. The promoters of WRKY gene members contained multiple regulatory elements, including hormone-responsive elements, light-responsive elements, and abiotic stress-responsive elements. Collinearity analysis revealed that the WRKY family in bayberry experienced six segmental duplication events. Inter-species synteny analysis demonstrated high collinearity between bayberry and Actinidia spp., indicating evolutionary conservation of WRKY genes across different plant species. It was observed that bayberry WRKY genes exhibited significant differential expression across different cultivars and developmental stages of fruits through expression pattern analysis. Further research indicated that MrWRKY14, a member of the bayberry WRKY family, significantly enhanced the promoter activity of MrSWEET1, thereby influencing the process of sugar accumulation. These findings not only provide an important reference for the genomewide identification of WRKY gene families in plants but also lay a solid foundation for future in-depth functional analysis of bayberry WRKY genes.
Keywords: Bayberry, WRKY gene family, phylogenetic tree, collinearity, Expression pattern analysis
Received: 30 Mar 2025; Accepted: 07 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fan, Chen, Zhang, Liu, Yang, Ye, Gu, Xu and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Kai Xu, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou, China
Boping Wu, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou, China
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