Fan, L.; Niu, Z.; Liu, G.; Shi, G.; Song, Z.; Yang, Q.; Zhou, S.; Wang, L. WRKY22 Transcription Factor from Iris laevigata Regulates Flowering Time and Abiotic Stress Resistance. Preprints2023, 2023100502. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.0502.v1
APA Style
Fan, L., Niu, Z., Liu, G., Shi, G., Song, Z., Yang, Q., Zhou, S., & Wang, L. (2023). WRKY22 Transcription Factor from Iris laevigata Regulates Flowering Time and Abiotic Stress Resistance. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.0502.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Fan, L., Sheng Zhou and Ling Wang. 2023 "WRKY22 Transcription Factor from Iris laevigata Regulates Flowering Time and Abiotic Stress Resistance" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.0502.v1
Abstract
Iris laevigata Fisch. is a perennial aquatic plant with strong cold resistance and showy flowers. However, the flowering period of a single flower is only two days, greatly limiting its potential use in landscaping and the cutting-flower industry. In addition, I. laevigata is often challenged with various abiotic stresses including high salinity and drought in its native habitat. Thus, breeding novel cultivars with prolonged flowering time and higher resistance to abiotic stress is of high importance. In this study, we first performed genome-wide identification of WRKYs, key transcription factors in modulating flowering time and abiotic stress responses. We overexpressed IlWRKY22 in Arabidopsis thaliana and found the flowering time was delayed in the transgenic plants. Molecular characterization further revealed that IlWRKY22 promotes the expression of CO and GA20OX genes in the photoperiod and gibberellin pathways, respectively, and inhibits the expression of SPL3 in the aging pathway. We also created transgenic Nicotiana tabacum overexpressing IlWRKY22, which showed significantly improved resistance to both salt and drought compared to control plants. Specifically, the photosynthetic rate, maximum potential quantum efficiency of Photosystem II (Fv/Fm), and chlorophyll content were higher in the transgenic plants, which was accompanied with higher antioxidant enzyme activity and lower levels of reactive oxygen species. Thus, our study revealed a unique dual function of IlWRKY22, an excellent candidate gene for breeding novel I. laevigata cultivars of desirable traits.
Keywords
Iris laevigata; WRKY transcription factor; flowering time regulation; salt stress; drought stress
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Horticulture
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
