Open Access

ARTICLE

The Maize WRKY Transcription Factor ZmWRKY25 Respond Drought Stress in Transgenic Tobacco

by Jianbo Fei^1,2,4, Zhibo Liu¹, Piwu Wang^1,3, Jing Qu², Siyan Liu¹, Shuyan Guan^1,3,*, Yiyong Ma^1,3

1 Joint International Research Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Technology, Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China
2 College of Agronomy, Jilin Agriculture Science and Technology College, Jilin, 132101, China
3 College of Agronomy, University of Jilin Agricultural, Changchun, 130118, China
4 Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Northeast Innovation Center for Agricultural Science and Technology in China), Changchun, 130033, China

* Corresponding Author: Shuyan Guan. Email:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2024, 93(12), 3617-3635. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2024.052704

Received 11 April 2024; Accepted 29 July 2024; Issue published 31 December 2024

Abstract

The WRKY transcription factors play important roles in various biological processes such as plant development, defense regulation, and stress response. Despite this, there is limited information available on drought-related WRKY genes in maize. Through RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis, a WRKY transcription factor called ZmWRKY25 was identified in this study. ZmWRKY25 belongs to Group II and is localized in the nucleus. Protein interaction analysis revealed that ZmWRKY25 interacts with several proteins involved in the abscisic acid (ABA) signal pathway. Expression of ZmWRKY25 was found to be up-regulated in response to drought, salt, and ABA treatments in tobacco plants. Furthermore, over-expression of ZmWRKY25 in tobacco led to improved tolerance to drought by participating in the ABA signal pathway, regulating the reactive oxygen species (ROS) active oxygen scavenging system, and promoting root growth and development. These findings suggest that ZmWRKY25 plays a role in multiple abiotic stress response pathways and acts as a positive factor under drought stress. Overall, the study highlights the importance of ZmWRKY25 in enhancing plant resilience to drought through its involvement in key physiological pathways.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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