The Role of OsWRKY Genes in Rice When Faced with Single and Multiple Abiotic Stresses

Abstract

The WRKY genes are one of the largest families of transcription factors (TFs) and play a crucial role in certain processes in plants including stress signaling, regulation of transcriptional reprogramming associated with stress responses, and other regulatory networks. This study aims to investigate the WRKY gene family in the C3 model plant, Oryza sativa L., using a genome-wide in silico expression analysis. Firstly, 104 WRKY TF family members were identified, and then their molecular properties and expression signatures were analyzed systematically. In silico spatio-temporal and hormonal expression profiling revealed the roles of OsWRKY genes and their dynamism in diverse developmental tissues and hormones, respectively. Comparative mapping between OsWRKY genes and their synteny with C4 panicoid genomes showed the evolutionary insights of the WRKY TF family. Interactions of OsWRKY coding gene sequences represented the complexity of abiotic stress (AbS) and their molecular cross-talks. The expression signature of 26 novel candidate genes in response to stresses exhibited the putative involvement of individual and combined AbS (CAbS) responses. These novel findings unravel the in-depth insights into OsWRKY TF genes and delineate the plant developmental metabolisms and their functional regulations in individual and CAbS conditions.