Characterization of bZIP Transcription Factors in Transcriptome of and Roles of in Drought Stress Resistance.

bZIP transcription factors play important roles in regulating plant development and stress responses. Although bZIPs have been identified in many plant species, there is little information on the bZIPs in . In this study, bZIP TFs were identified from the leaf transcriptome of , a plant naturally tolerant to drought. A total of 28 full-length bZIP family members were identified from the leaf transcriptome of and were divided into five subfamilies based on their phylogenetic relationships with the bZIPs from Arabidopsis. Ten conserved motifs were detected among the bZIP proteins of . Subcellular localization assays revealed that most of the CmbZIPs were predicted to be localized in the nucleus. A novel bZIP gene, designated as , was cloned based on a sequence of the data of the transcriptome and was overexpressed in tobacco. The results indicated that the overexpression of reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increased the peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities as well as the expression levels of stress-related genes under drought stress, thus enhancing the drought tolerance of transgenic tobacco lines. These results provide a theoretical basis for further exploring the functions of the bZIP family genes and lay a foundation for stress resistance improvement in chrysanthemums in the future.