Dlf1, a WRKY Transcription Factor, Is Involved in the Control of Flowering Time and Plant Height in Rice

Semi-dwarfism is a main agronomic trait in crop breeding. In this study, we performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) and identified a new quantitative trait nucleotide (QTN) for rice shoot length. The peak QTN (C/T) was located in the first coding region of a group III WRKY transcription factor OsWRKY21 (LOC_Os01g60640). Interestingly, further haplotype analysis showed that C/T difference only existed in the indica group but not in the japonica group, resulting in significant differences in plant height among the different indica rice varieties. OsWRKY21 was expressed in embryo, radicle, shoots, leaves, and stems. Most notably, overexpressing OsWRKY21 resulted in the semi-dwarf phenotype, early heading date and short internodes compared to the wild type, while the knockout mutant plants by CRISPR/Cas9 technology yielded the opposite. The overexpressing lines exhibited the decreased length of the cells near sclerenchyma epidermis, accompanied with the lower levels of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and gibberellin 3 (GA3), but increased levels of the abscisic acid (ABA) and salicylic acid (SA) in the internodes at heading stage. Moreover, the semi-dwarf phenotype could be fully rescued by exogenous GA3 application at seedling stage. The RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analysis confirmed the differential expression levels of genes in development and the stress responses in rice, including GA metabolism (GA20ox2, GA2ox6, and YABY1) and cell wall biosynthesis (CesA4, 7, and 9) and regulation (MYB103L). These data suggest the essential role of OsWRKY21 in regulation of internode elongation and plant height in rice.

Download Full-text

Small grain and semi-dwarf 3, a WRKY transcription factor, negatively regulates plant height and grain size by stabilizing SLR1 expression in rice

Plant Molecular Biology ◽

10.1007/s11103-020-01049-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 104 (4-5) ◽

pp. 429-450

Author(s):

Jie Lan ◽

Qibing Lin ◽

Chunlei Zhou ◽

Yakun Ren ◽

Xi Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Grain Size ◽

Transcription Factor ◽

Plant Height ◽

Wrky Transcription Factor

Download Full-text

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Divergent roles of a pair of homologous jumonji/zinc-finger-class transcription factor proteins in the regulation of Arabidopsis flowering time.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1021671.247641 ◽

2004 ◽

Author(s):

José Luis Riechmann

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Flowering Time ◽

Zinc Finger ◽

Transcription Factor Proteins

Download Full-text

In silico genome-wide identification and phylogenetic analysis of the WRKY transcription factor family in sweet orange (Citrus sinensis)

Australian Journal of Crop Science ◽

10.21475/ajcs.17.11.06.p471 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (06) ◽

pp. 716-726 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Eduardo Goiano da Silva ◽

◽

Tania Mayumi Ito ◽

Silvia Graciele Hülse de Souza ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Analysis ◽

Transcription Factor ◽

In Silico ◽

Citrus Sinensis ◽

Sweet Orange ◽

Wrky Transcription Factor ◽

Transcription Factor Family ◽

Genome Wide

Download Full-text

Transcriptome profiling of developing leaf and shoot apices to reveal the molecular mechanism and co-expression genes responsible for the wheat heading date

BMC Genomics ◽

10.1186/s12864-021-07797-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yuxin Yang ◽

Xueying Zhang ◽

Lifen Wu ◽

Lichao Zhang ◽

Guoxiang Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Flowering Time ◽

Heading Date ◽

Yield Component ◽

Potential Candidate ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Nucleotide Synthesis ◽

Light Reaction ◽

Grain Number Per Spike ◽

Double Ridge

Abstract Background Wheat is one of the most widely planted crops worldwide. The heading date is important for wheat environmental adaptability, as it not only controls flowering time but also determines the yield component in terms of grain number per spike. Results In this research, homozygous genotypes with early and late heading dates derived from backcrossed progeny were selected to conduct RNA-Seq analysis at the double ridge stage (W2.0) and androgynous primordium differentiation stage (W3.5) of the leaf and apical meristem, respectively. In total, 18,352 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, many of which are strongly associated with wheat heading date genes. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that carbohydrate metabolism, trehalose metabolic process, photosynthesis, and light reaction are closely related to the flowering time regulation pathway. Based on MapMan metabolic analysis, the DEGs are mainly involved in the light reaction, hormone signaling, lipid metabolism, secondary metabolism, and nucleotide synthesis. In addition, 1,225 DEGs were annotated to 45 transcription factor gene families, including LFY, SBP, and MADS-box transcription factors closely related to flowering time. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) showed that 16, 336, 446, and 124 DEGs have biological connections with Vrn1-5 A, Vrn3-7B, Ppd-1D, and WSOC1, respectively. Furthermore, TraesCS2D02G181400 encodes a MADS-MIKC transcription factor and is co-expressed with Vrn1-5 A, which indicates that this gene may be related to flowering time. Conclusions RNA-Seq analysis provided transcriptome data for the wheat heading date at key flower development stages of double ridge (W2.0) and androgynous primordium differentiation (W3.5). Based on the DEGs identified, co-expression networks of key flowering time genes in Vrn1-5 A, Vrn3-7B, WSOC1, and Ppd-1D were established. Moreover, we discovered a potential candidate flowering time gene, TraesCS2D02G181400. Taken together, these results serve as a foundation for further study on the regulatory mechanism of the wheat heading date.

Download Full-text

The transcription factor OpWRKY2 positively regulates the biosynthesis of the anticancer drug camptothecin in Ophiorrhiza pumila

Horticulture Research ◽

10.1038/s41438-020-00437-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xiaolong Hao ◽

Chenhong Xie ◽

Qingyan Ruan ◽

Xichen Zhang ◽

Chao Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Anticancer Activity ◽

Time Course ◽

Indole Alkaloid ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Wrky Transcription Factor ◽

Mobility Shift ◽

Pathway Gene ◽

Low Concentrations ◽

Encoding Gene

AbstractThe limited bioavailability of plant-derived natural products with anticancer activity poses major challenges to the pharmaceutical industry. An example of this is camptothecin, a monoterpene indole alkaloid with potent anticancer activity that is extracted at very low concentrations from woody plants. Recently, camptothecin biosynthesis has been shown to become biotechnologically amenable in hairy-root systems of the natural producer Ophiorrhiza pumila. Here, time-course expression and metabolite analyses were performed to identify novel transcriptional regulators of camptothecin biosynthesis in O. pumila. It is shown here that camptothecin production increased over cultivation time and that the expression pattern of the WRKY transcription factor encoding gene OpWRKY2 is closely correlated with camptothecin accumulation. Overexpression of OpWRKY2 led to a more than three-fold increase in camptothecin levels. Accordingly, silencing of OpWRKY2 correlated with decreased camptothecin levels in the plant. Further detailed molecular characterization by electrophoretic mobility shift, yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase assays showed that OpWRKY2 directly binds and activates the central camptothecin pathway gene OpTDC. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that OpWRKY2 acts as a direct positive regulator of camptothecin biosynthesis. As such, a feasible strategy for the over-accumulation of camptothecin in a biotechnologically amenable system is presented.

Download Full-text