Zhang XueYi, Liu WanXia, Yin YiAn, Zheng Jia, Li JianAn, Tan XiaoFeng, Wu LingLi
College of Forestry, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China.
Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 Aug 7;16:1646357. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1646357. eCollection 2025.
Plant abiotic stress refers to the unfavorable effects on plants caused by any abiotic factors in a specific environment, such as drought, high temperature, low temperature, etc., which cause disruption of plant physiology and metabolism, and seriously affect the growth and yield of plants. Mounting evidence demonstrates that WRKY transcription factors modulate plant abiotic stress responses by regulating sugar metabolic pathways. Sugar metabolism pathway plays an essential role in plant stress resistance, and WRKY transcription factors, as an important class of regulatory factors, have attracted wide attention for their mechanism of action in abiotic stress. Therefore, this review primarily aims to analyze the structure and classification of WRKY transcription factors, summarize the research progress on how WRKY transcription factors themselves respond to stress, and how they participate in regulating plant stress responses through sugar metabolism pathways. Through in-depth investigation of the relationship between WRKY transcription factors and sugar metabolic pathways we uncovered novel abiotic stress-related gene regulatory networks providing theoretical basis and practical guidance for genetic improvement of plants under abiotic stress.
植物非生物胁迫是指特定环境中任何非生物因素对植物造成的不利影响，如干旱、高温、低温等，这些因素会导致植物生理和代谢紊乱，严重影响植物的生长和产量。越来越多的证据表明，WRKY转录因子通过调节糖代谢途径来调控植物的非生物胁迫反应。糖代谢途径在植物抗逆性中起着至关重要的作用，而WRKY转录因子作为一类重要的调控因子，其在非生物胁迫中的作用机制已引起广泛关注。因此，本综述主要旨在分析WRKY转录因子的结构和分类，总结WRKY转录因子自身如何响应胁迫以及如何通过糖代谢途径参与调控植物胁迫反应的研究进展。通过深入研究WRKY转录因子与糖代谢途径之间的关系，我们发现了新的非生物胁迫相关基因调控网络，为非生物胁迫下植物的遗传改良提供了理论依据和实践指导。
