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Cloning and characterization of FcWRKY40, A WRKY transcription factor from Fortunella crassifolia linked to oxidative stress tolerance

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Abstract

The WRKY transcription factors play a key role in regulating stress responses, but the functions of most WRKYs from the non-model plants remain poorly understood. Herein, we report the isolation and functional characterization of a Group IIa WRKY gene (FcWRKY40) in Meiwa kumquat (Fortunella crassifolia). FcWRKY40 encodes a putative protein of 257 amino acids containing a coiled-coil domain and a WRKY domain. FcWRKY40 was localized in the nuclei. Transcript levels of FcWRKY40 were upregulated by salt, salicylic acid, cold and abscisic acid, but repressed by dehydration. Transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing FcWRKY40 were shown to be more tolerant to the oxidative stresses than the wild type (WT), as indicated by better morphological phenotypes of leaf or whole plant, less severe cell death, and lower MDA and H2O2 levels. In addition, mRNA abundances of two genes related to H2O2 scavenging, peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), were higher in the transgenic plants than in the WT before and after oxidative stress treatment. The promoters of POD and CAT genes contained W-box elements. Both yeast one-hybrid and transient expression assay demonstrated that FcWRKY40 could interact with the two promoters. Taken together, our data suggest that FcWRKY40 functions in the oxidative stress tolerance, possibly by alleviating H2O2 accumulation via regulation of the antioxidant genes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program) of China (2011AA100205), National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education, and the Outstanding Talent Program of the Ministry of Agriculture.

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Correspondence to Ji-Hong Liu.

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Gong, XQ., Hu, JB. & Liu, JH. Cloning and characterization of FcWRKY40, A WRKY transcription factor from Fortunella crassifolia linked to oxidative stress tolerance. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 119, 197–210 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-014-0526-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-014-0526-0

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