Characterization of WRKY Gene in Cereal

Abstract

The study examines the WRKY gene in cereal crops, which plays a crucial role in responding to both abiotic and biotic stresses. Understanding this gene offers valuable insights into the function of the WRKY transcription factor in regulating the expression of genes involved in stress responses. The research aims to analyze WRKY genes in cereal plants, identifying motifs and domains related to their response to these stresses. For this purpose, 26 WRKY gene sequences from rice (Oryza sativa subsp. japonica), soybeans (Glycine max), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and corn (Zea mays) were analyzed. Protein sequences were obtained from NCBI and processed using various bioinformatics tools. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted using Mega11, sequence alignment with ClustalW, motif analysis with MEME and domain analysis with InterProScan. The phylogenetic analysis results indicate that the WRKY genes are grouped by plant species rather than isoenzymes. Sequence alignment further supports this species-based grouping. Motif analysis using MEME identified 10 motifs in the 26 WRKY gene sequences associated with both abiotic and biotic stresses. The WRKYGQK motif was present in all WRKY genes, with the PEDGYQWRKYGQKVIKGNPYPRAYYRCTM motif emerging as the dominant motif across all cereal sequences. In this study, five cereal sequences were classified into Group I, fifteen into Group II, four into Group III and two sequences remained unclassified. The findings suggest that conserved motifs, such as WRKYGQK, may serve as active sites necessary for WRKY transcription factors to bind to target gene promoters and regulate their expression in response to stresses. This discovery enhances our understanding of the role of these transcription factors in controlling genes involved in stress responses. The presence of WRKY and zinc finger motifs in most WRKY transcription factor sequences appears to contribute to clustering genes in the phylogenetic tree by genus rather than isoform type. This study demonstrates that WRKY genes can be used for stress tolerance screening and improving plant stress tolerance through transgenic technology or breeding.