Genome-Wide Identification of the Physic Nut WUSCHEL-Related Homeobox Gene Family and Functional Analysis of the Abiotic Stress Responsive Gene JcWOX5

Abstract

Plant-specific WOX transcription factors have important regulatory functions in plant development and response to abiotic stress. However, the identification and functional analysis of members of the WOX family have rarely been reported in the physic nut plant until now. Our research identified 12 WOX genes (JcWOXs) in physic nut, and these genes were divided into three groups corresponding to the ancient clade, WUS clade, and intermediate clade. Expression analysis based on RNA-seq and qRT-PCR showed that most of the JcWOX genes were expressed in at least one of the tissues tested, whereas five genes were identified as being highly responsive to drought and salt stresses. Subcellular localization analysis in Arabidopsis protoplast cells showed that JcWOX5 encoded a nuclear-localized protein. JcWOX5-overexpression plants increased sensitivity to drought stress, and transgenic plants suggested a lower proline content and CAT activity, higher relative electrolyte leakage, higher MDA content, and higher rate of water loss under drought conditions. Expression of some stressrelated genes was obviously lower in the transformed rice lines as compared to their expression in wild-type rice lines under drought stress. Further data on JcWOX5overexpressing plants reducing drought tolerance verified the potential role of JcWOX genes in responsive to abiotic stress. Collectively, the study provides a foundation for further functional analysis of JcWOX genes and the improvement of physic nut crops.

Genome-Wide Identification and Comparative Analysis of WOX Genes in Four Euphorbiaceae Species and Their Expression Patterns in Jatropha curcas

“…JcWOX14 contained the most stressrelated promoters with seven types across 18 different promoters, proving that JcWOX14 is likely involved in stressrelated responses (Figure 5). This echoes a previous study of JcWOX5 in transgenic rice in which the gene increased its sensitivity to the drought stress (Tang et al, 2020). These results confirmed the hypothesis that JcWOXs played a potential role in the response to abiotic stress.…”

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Profiling of the WOX Gene Family in Citrus sinensis and Functional Analysis of a CsWUS Member

“…Arabidopsis WOX members have been extensively studied, and their orthologs have exhibited diverse functions in numerous development processes [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], along with rice and maize [ 8 , 12 ]. Besides Arabidopsis , genome-wide studies have also been conducted on the W OX gene families of woody plants such as walnut [ 10 ], physic nut [ 14 ], grapes [ 15 , 16 ], peach, pear, apricot [ 17 ], coffee [ 18 ], and poplar [ 19 ]. In these plants, WOX genes are involved in vital regulatory networks that link the developmental mechanisms in plants, including shoot apical meristem, lateral organ development, plant stem cell maintenance, and floral determinacy [ 5 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].…”

Genome-Wide Analysis of WOX Multigene Family in Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

“…Phylogenetic analysis on protein sequences of HaWOX was performed by using MEGA X. To subdivide into the corresponding ancient, intermediate, and WUS clades, we clustered HaWOX sequences along with a known and characterized WOX protein belonging to Arabidopsis thaliana , Oryza sativa , Populus trichocarpa , and Glycine max ( Table S1 ) [ 45 ]. Through this analysis, we identified four sunflower WOX sequences belonging to the ancient clade (HaWOX15, HaWOX16, HaWOX17, and HaWOX18), three of the intermediate clade (HaWOX12, HaWOX13, and HaWOX14) and 11 proteins of WUS clade (HaWOX1, HaWOX2, HaWOX3, HaWOX4, HaWOX5, HaWOX6, HaWOX7, HaWOX8, HaWOX9, HaWOX10, and HaWOX11), as shown in Figure 1 .…”