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Expression patterns of WRKY genes in di-haploid Populus simonii × P. nigra in response to osmotic stress and ABA treatment

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Abstract

In this study, 108 WRKY genes with complete conserved WRKY domain and zinc-finger motif were identified from poplar in silico, and they were classified into three subfamilies named I, II, and III. The WRKY members in group II were further clustered into five subgroups (IIa–e), where members in group I and III formed a single cluster. Thirteen highly expressed genes were employed to profile their spatio-temporal expression patterns in response to osmotic stress and ABA treatment by qRT-PCR. Under both osmotic stress and ABA treatment, overall gene expression displayed a dynamic pattern of “induced amplification—recover” in leaves, but not in roots and stems. Regarding individual gene expression across the seven time points and the three tissues, five genes (PthWRKY28, 56, 62, 88, and 106) were involved in regulation of both osmotic stress tolerance and ABA signaling transduction pathways. Meanwhile, four genes (PthWRKY41, 44, 51, and 116) played distinct roles in either osmotic stress or ABA treatment condition. These suggested that WRKY genes and corresponding pathways may play a critical role in regulating poplar responses to osmotic stress and ABA treatment in a dynamic and tissue-specific manner.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (2013AA102701) and the Fundamental Research Funds for The Central Universities (2572015AA06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, 51 Hexing Road, Harbin, 150040, China

    Shengji Wang, Jiying Wang, Wenjing Yao, Boru Zhou & Tingbo Jiang

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  1. Shengji Wang
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  2. Jiying Wang
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  3. Wenjing Yao
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Correspondence to Boru Zhou or Tingbo Jiang.

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Wang, S., Wang, J., Yao, W. et al. Expression patterns of WRKY genes in di-haploid Populus simonii × P. nigra in response to osmotic stress and ABA treatment. Plant Growth Regul 78, 325–333 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-015-0095-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-015-0095-1

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