National Engineering Laboratory of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
National Engineering Laboratory of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China; Engineering Research Center for Maize of Anhui Province, School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
Plant Physiol Biochem. 2024 Feb;207:108422. doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2024.108422. Epub 2024 Feb 5.
The plant height is a crucial agronomic trait in contemporary maize breeding. Appropriate plant height can improve crop lodging resistance, increase the planting density and harvest index of crops, and thus contribute to stable and increased yields. In this study, molecular characterization showed that ZmWRKY92 is a nuclear protein and has transcriptional activation in yeast. ZmWRKY92 can specifically bind to the W-box (TTGACC), which was confirmed by double LUC experiments and Yeast one-hybrid assays. Subsequently we screened wrky92 mutants from a library of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-induced mutants. The mutation of a base in ZmWRKY92 leading to the formation of a truncated protein variant is responsible for the dwarfing phenotype of the mutant, which was further verified by allelic testing. Detailed phenotypic analysis revealed that wrky92 mutants have shorter internodes due to reduced internode cell size and lower levels of GA and IAA. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the ZmWRKY92 mutation caused significant changes in the expression of genes related to plant height in maize. Additionally, ZmWRKY92 was found to interact with the promoters of ZmGA20ox7 and ZmGID1L2, which are associated with GA synthesis. This study shows that ZmWRKY92 significantly affects the plants height in maize and is crucial in identifying new varieties suitable for growing in high-density conditions.
株高是当代玉米育种中一个重要的农艺性状。适当的株高可以提高作物抗倒伏能力，增加作物的种植密度和收获指数，从而有助于稳定和提高产量。在这项研究中，分子特征表明ZmWRKY92 是一种核蛋白，在酵母中有转录激活作用。ZmWRKY92 可以特异性地结合 W-box（TTGACC），这一点通过双 LUC 实验和酵母单杂交实验得到了证实。随后，我们从乙基甲磺酸（EMS）诱导突变体文库中筛选 wrky92 突变体。ZmWRKY92 中一个碱基的突变导致截短蛋白变体的形成，是突变体矮化表型的原因，这通过等位基因测试进一步得到了验证。详细的表型分析表明，wrky92 突变体由于节间细胞尺寸减小和 GA 和 IAA 水平降低，导致节间变短。转录组分析表明，ZmWRKY92 突变导致与玉米株高相关的基因表达发生显著变化。此外，还发现 ZmWRKY92 与与 GA 合成相关的 ZmGA20ox7 和 ZmGID1L2 启动子相互作用。这项研究表明，ZmWRKY92 显著影响玉米的株高，对于鉴定适合高密度种植的新品种非常重要。
