Genome-wide and transcriptome analysis of PdWRKY transcription factors in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) revealing insights into heat and drought stress tolerance

作者：Ibrahim Khan, Lubna, Saqib Bilal, Ashraf M. M. Abdelbacki, ⋅Sang-Mo Kang, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Sajjad Asaf, Sang‐Uk Lee · 发表于：BMC Genomics · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12864-025-11715-6 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Plant Gene Expression Analysis、Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis、Plant Molecular Biology Research

Genomic and transcriptomic studies on date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) are still inadequate, but several studies have contributed to understanding its genetic makeup, especially in the Khalas cultivar. Looking at the extensive importance of WRKY transcription factors (TFs) in plant growth, development and defense responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses, we conducted a study to identify and functionally annotate the WRKY TFs of P. dactylifera, with a particular focus on their involvement in drought and heat stress. A total of 73 PdWRKY TFs were curated and classified into 7 and 17 clades through comparative phylogenetic analysis and orthologous comparison of the WRKY TFs from the extensively studied genomes of Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa, respectively. Our findings show that 52% of PdWRKYs have strong homology with OsWRKYs, while only 9 PdWRKYs have orthologous relationships with AtWRKYs. This indicates a divergence in evolutionary patterns, likely due to gene duplications and losses in rice, Arabidopsis, and date palm, that occurred both before and after the last common ancestor of these species. Our comprehensive analysis of gene structures, conserved motifs, and protein-protein interactions confirmed functional similarities among many PdWRKYs. The GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses validate that PdWRKY genes have significant functional roles in various molecular, cellular, and biological processes. The transcriptomics analysis revealed that heat stres...