Molecular Plant Breeding 2024, Vol.15, No.2, 42-51 http://genbreedpublisher.com/index.php/mpb 42 Review and Progress Open Access Research Progress of WRKY Transcription Factor Family in Plant Stress Resistance Qingqing Ji 1,2, XiaAn1 , Guanghui Du2, Xiahong Luo1, Changli Chen1, Tingting Liu1, LinaZou1, Guanlin Zhu1 1 Zhejiang Xiaoshan Institute of Cotton & Bast Fiber Crops, Zhejiang Institute of Landscape Plants and Flowers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 311251, Zhejiang, China 2 College of Agriculture, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China Corresponding author: anxia@zaas.ac.cn Molecular Plant Breeding, 2024, Vol.15, No.2 doi: 10.5376/mpb.2024.15.0006 Received: 08 Jan., 2024 Accepted: 26 Feb., 2024 Published: 09 Mar., 2024 Copyright © 2024 Ji et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Ji Q.Q., An X., Du G.H., Luo X.H., Chen C.L., Liu T.T., Zou L.N., and Zhu G.L., 2024, Research progress of WRKY transcription factor family in plant stress resistance, Molecular Plant Breeding, 15(2): 42-51 (doi: 10.5376/mpb.2024.15.0006) Abstract Transcription factors are a group of regulatory proteins that play significant roles in biological processes. They are the seventh largest family of transcription factors in higher plants, and are essential in plant growth, development, and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. This study provides a brief overview of the evolution of WRKY transcription factors in response to various abiotic stresses such as drought, high salt, temperature, inorganic elements, and oxidation, as well as biotic stresses such as infection by pathogenic bacteria and feeding by phytophagous insects. Furthermore, the research prospects and directions of WRKY transcription factors are envisioned. Keywords WRKY; Transcription factor; Biotic stress; Abiotic stress 1 Introduction Throughout their growth and development, plants are vulnerable to various stresses such as drought, flooding, high and low temperatures, salinity, oxidation, inorganic elements, as well as infestation by pathogenic bacteria and phytophagous insects. To maintain their normal life processes and adapt to the ever-changing external environment, plants have evolved a range of complex and effective defense mechanisms. One of the primary ways that plants deal with stress is through the transcription of specific genes, whereby transcription factors play a crucial role in regulating various developmental and physiological processes in plants by directly or indirectly binding to the cis-acting elements in genes that are involved in the stress signal transduction pathways. WRKY is a unique and novel transcription factor specific to plants. Its members play a crucial role in enhancing plant stress tolerance. The WRKY protein comprises a 60-amino-acid conserved region known as the WRKY conserved region. The N-terminal of this region contains a core sequence of WRKYGQK, which is responsible for DNA binding and forms a positively charged concave surface. On the other hand, the C-terminal of the WRKY protein is a zinc-finger structure that can be linked to the W-box (C/TTGACT/C). This structure is responsible for DNA binding. The N-terminal region is positively charged and mainly responsible for DNA binding, while the C-terminal region is responsible for specific binding to DNA. WRKY is induced by pathogens, mechanical damage, and the signaling molecule salicylic acid. Initially, the WRKY family was classified into three subfamilies based on the number of WRKY regions and zinc-finger structures, which are known as subfamily I, II, and III. Subfamily I contains two WRKY structural domains, family II contains one WRKY structural domain and one C2H2-type zinc-finger structure, and family III contains one WRKY structural domain and one C2HC-type zinc-finger structure. Later, Zhang and Wang (2005) reclassified the family into five families based on the differences in the conserved structures and the positions of their introns. These are Ⅰ, Ⅱa+Ⅱb, Ⅱc, Ⅱd+Ⅱe, and Ⅲ, which are distinguished by the differences in the conserved structures and the positions of their introns.
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