Key Laboratory of Superior Forage Germplasm in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Academy of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China.
Genes (Basel). 2022 Oct 21;13(10):1918. doi: 10.3390/genes13101918.
The WRKY family is widely involved in the regulation of plant growth and stress response and is one of the largest gene families related to plant environmental adaptation. However, no systematic studies on the WRKY family in oat ( L.) have been conducted to date. The recently published complete genome sequence of oat enables the systematic analysis of the AsWRKYs. Based on a genome-wide study of oat, we identified 162 AsWRKYs that were unevenly distributed across 21 chromosomes; a phylogenetic tree of WRKY domains divided these genes into three groups (I, II, and III). We also analyzed the gene duplication events and identified a total of 111 gene pairs that showed strong purifying selection during the evolutionary process. Surprisingly, almost all genes evolved after the completion of subgenomic differentiation of hexaploid oat. Further studies on the functional analysis indicated that AsWRKYs were widely involved in various biological processes. Notably, expression patterns of 16 AsWRKY genes revealed that the response of AsWRKYs were affected by stress level and time. In conclusion, this study provides a reference for further analysis of the role of WRKY transcription factors in species evolution and functional differentiation.
WRKY 家族广泛参与植物生长和应激反应的调节，是与植物环境适应相关的最大基因家族之一。然而，迄今为止，尚未对燕麦（L.）中的 WRKY 家族进行系统研究。最近发表的燕麦全基因组序列使 AsWRKYs 的系统分析成为可能。基于对燕麦的全基因组研究，我们鉴定了 162 个 AsWRKYs，它们在 21 条染色体上不均匀分布；WRKY 结构域的系统发育树将这些基因分为三组（I、II 和 III）。我们还分析了基因复制事件，共鉴定出 111 对在进化过程中受到强烈纯化选择的基因对。令人惊讶的是，几乎所有基因都是在六倍体燕麦亚基因组分化完成后进化而来的。对功能分析的进一步研究表明，AsWRKYs 广泛参与各种生物过程。值得注意的是，16 个 AsWRKY 基因的表达模式表明，AsWRKYs 的反应受到应激水平和时间的影响。总之，本研究为进一步分析 WRKY 转录因子在物种进化和功能分化中的作用提供了参考。
