Fan Xiurun, Chen Minghui, Zhang Huiling, Liu Yumeng, Yang Meng, Ye Chengyang, Gu Hailing, Xu Kai, Wu Boping
Collaborative Innovation Center for Efficient and Green Production of Agriculture in Mountainous Areas of Zhejiang Province, College of Horticulture Science, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 May 30;16:1602750. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1602750. eCollection 2025.
Bayberry () is a significant subtropical fruit tree, renowned for its distinctive flavor and high nutritional value. WRKY transcription factors are a class of plant-specific zinc-finger proteins that play critical roles in plant growth and development, secondary metabolism, and responses to abiotic stress. However, there is currently limited information about the gene family in bayberry. This study conducted a systematic bioinformatics analysis of 55 genes in bayberry, elucidating their phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, conserved motifs, and syntenic characteristics. The results demonstrated that these family members could be classified into five subfamilies, with each gene containing at least one WRKY domain. The bayberry genes exhibited significant variations in gene length and intron-exon numbers, while maintaining relatively conserved gene structures within each subfamily. The promoters of gene members contained multiple regulatory elements, including hormone-responsive elements, light-responsive elements, and abiotic stress-responsive elements. Collinearity analysis revealed that the family in bayberry experienced six segmental duplication events. Inter-species synteny analysis demonstrated high collinearity between bayberry and spp., indicating evolutionary conservation of genes across different plant species. It was observed that bayberry genes exhibited significant differential expression across different cultivars and developmental stages of fruits through expression pattern analysis. Further research indicated that MrWRKY14, a member of the bayberry WRKY family, significantly enhanced the promoter activity of , thereby influencing the process of sugar accumulation. These findings not only provide an important reference for the genome-wide identification of gene families in plants but also lay a solid foundation for future in-depth functional analysis of bayberry genes.
杨梅()是一种重要的亚热带果树,以其独特的风味和高营养价值而闻名。WRKY转录因子是一类植物特有的锌指蛋白,在植物生长发育、次生代谢和对非生物胁迫的响应中发挥关键作用。然而,目前关于杨梅中该基因家族的信息有限。本研究对杨梅中的55个基因进行了系统的生物信息学分析,阐明了它们的系统发育关系、基因结构、保守基序和共线性特征。结果表明,这些家族成员可分为五个亚家族,每个基因至少包含一个WRKY结构域。杨梅基因在基因长度和内含子-外显子数量上表现出显著差异,而在每个亚家族内保持相对保守的基因结构。基因成员的启动子包含多个调控元件,包括激素响应元件、光响应元件和非生物胁迫响应元件。共线性分析表明,杨梅中的该家族经历了六次片段重复事件。种间共线性分析表明,杨梅与 spp. 之间具有高度共线性,表明该基因在不同植物物种间具有进化保守性。通过表达模式分析观察到,杨梅基因在不同品种和果实发育阶段表现出显著的差异表达。进一步研究表明,杨梅WRKY家族成员MrWRKY14显著增强了的启动子活性,从而影响糖积累过程。这些发现不仅为植物中该基因家族的全基因组鉴定提供了重要参考,也为今后深入开展杨梅基因的功能分析奠定了坚实基础。