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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2024, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (4): 154-170.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023214

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Identification and expression pattern of the WRKY transcription factor family in Medicago sativa

Xian-yang LI1,2(), Hao LIU1, Fei HE1, Xue WANG1, Ming-na LI1, Rui-cai LONG1, Jun-mei KANG1, Qing-chuan YANG1, Lin CHEN1()   

  1. 1.Institute of Animal Science,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Beijing 100193,China
    2.College of Life Science and Technology,Harbin Normal University,Harbin 150025,China
  • Received:2023-06-26 Revised:2023-09-13 Online:2024-04-20 Published:2024-01-15
  • Contact: Lin CHEN

Abstract:

WRKY transcription factors are one of the largest gene families in plants and play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in abiotic stress processes. Currently, members of the WRKY gene family have been extensively studied and analyzed in a variety of plant species. However, the alfalfa (Medicago sativa) WRKY transcription factors have not been identified and analyzed at the genome-wide level. In this study, we systematically identified alfalfa WRKY gene family members and analyzed their expression patterns under different stress treatments. We showed that a total of 198 WRKY transcription factors were unevenly distributed across 32 chromosomes in alfalfa, with chromosome 7 having the largest number. The phylogenetic tree results show that the WRKY gene family members can be divided into three groups. Among these WRKY transcription factors, 42 responded to salt stress, 7 to alkali stress, 19 to cold stress and 37 to drought stress, and MsWRKY154 and MsWRKY166 were found to respond to both salt, drought, and cold as well as alkali stress. The results of this study provide a foundation for the intensive investigation of the biological function of WRKY transcription factors in alfalfa, and can also provide valuable information for molecular breeding in alfalfa.

Key words: WRKY transcription factor, alfalfa, expression pattern, abiotic stress