Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Jiangsu Provincial Platform for Conservation and Utilization of Agricultural Germplasm, Nanjing 210014, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 26;24(3):2423. doi: 10.3390/ijms24032423.
, 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 . In this study, a total of 31 () 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 genes differed across tissues and might be important for growth and flower development. There were large differences among the 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 . We further established a gene-to-metabolite correlation network and identified and significant association with the accumulation of pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside-5-O-arabinoside in the 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.
萱草属于石蒜科，是一种著名的传统中药植物，易受多种胁迫影响。WRKY 蛋白是植物中最大的转录因子（TF）家族之一，在调节生理代谢和非生物胁迫反应方面发挥着重要作用。WRKY TF 家族已在许多药用植物中被鉴定和研究，但在萱草中其成员和功能尚未确定。本研究基于转录组测序数据共鉴定出 31 个（）基因。接下来，根据 WRKY 结构域将 LrWRKY 分为三大类群（I-III 组）。基序分析表明，同一组内的成员共享相似的基序组成，表明具有保守的功能。此外，亚细胞定位分析表明，大多数 LrWRKY 都定位于细胞核。基因在不同组织中的表达模式不同，可能对萱草的生长和花发育很重要。18 种花色苷成分用超高效液相色谱-电喷雾串联质谱（UPLC-ESI-MS/MS）分析进行了表征，鉴定出矢车菊素-3-O-葡萄糖苷-5-O-阿拉伯糖苷和飞燕草素-3-O-桑布糖苷为导致萱草红色花瓣着色的主要花色苷苷元。我们进一步建立了基因-代谢物关联网络，并确定和与萱草红色花瓣中矢车菊素-3-O-葡萄糖苷-5-O-阿拉伯糖苷的积累显著相关。这些结果为进一步探讨 WRKY TF 在花色苷生物合成以及对干旱胁迫和 MeJA 处理响应中的分子基础和调控机制提供了重要的理论依据。
