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Abstract

Background: The WRKY transcription factor family plays critical roles in many aspects of physiological processes and adaption to environment. Although the WRKY genes have been widely studied in various plants, the structure and function of the WRKY family in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) remains unknown. Methods: In the present study, the WRKY genes were identified from the sugar beet genome by bioinformatics. Phylogenetic tree was constructed by MEGA7.0 software. Distribution map of these genes was displayed by MapInspect 1.0. Furthermore, the exon-intron structure and the conserved motifs were predicted by GSDS 2.0 and MEME 5.0.5, respectively. Additionally, the expression levels of these genes under alkaline stress were assayed by qRT-PCR. Results: A total of 58 putative BvWRKY genes are identified in the sugar beet genome. The coding sequence of these genes ranged from 558 to 2,307 bp and molecular weight varied from 21.3 to 84. Based on the conserved WRKY domain and zinc-finger motif, the BvWRKY genes are clustered into three major groups I, II and III, with 11, 40 and 7 genes, respectively. The number of intron in the BvWRKY genes ranged from 1 to 5, with majority of BvWRKY (27/58) containing three exons. All the BvWRKY genes have one or two WRKY motifs at the N-terminus. Moreover, the expression levels of BvWRKY genes are increased remarkedly by alkaline stress. Our findings extend understandings of the BvWRKY genes family and provide useful information for subsequent research on their functions in sugar beet under alkaline stress.