TY  - EJOU
AU  - Fei, Jianbo 
AU  - Liu, Zhibo 
AU  - Wang, Piwu 
AU  - Qu, Jing 
AU  - Liu, Siyan 
AU  - Guan, Shuyan 
AU  - Ma, Yiyong 

TI  - The Maize WRKY Transcription Factor <i>ZmWRKY25</i> Respond Drought Stress in Transgenic Tobacco
T2  - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany

PY  - 2024
VL  - 93
IS  - 12
SN  - 1851-5657

AB  - 
The WRKY transcription factors play important roles in various biological processes such as plant development, defense regulation, and stress response. Despite this, there is limited information available on drought-related <i>WRKY</i> genes in maize. Through RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis, a WRKY transcription factor called <i>ZmWRKY25</i> was identified in this study. <i>ZmWRKY25</i> belongs to Group II and is localized in the nucleus. Protein interaction analysis revealed that <i>ZmWRKY25</i> interacts with several proteins involved in the abscisic acid (ABA) signal pathway. Expression of <i>ZmWRKY25</i> was found to be up-regulated in response to drought, salt, and ABA treatments in tobacco plants. Furthermore, over-expression of <i>ZmWRKY25</i> in tobacco led to improved tolerance to drought by participating in the ABA signal pathway, regulating the reactive oxygen species (ROS) active oxygen scavenging system, and promoting root growth and development. These findings suggest that <i>ZmWRKY25</i> plays a role in multiple abiotic stress response pathways and acts as a positive factor under drought stress. Overall, the study highlights the importance of <i>ZmWRKY25</i> in enhancing plant resilience to drought through its involvement in key physiological pathways.
KW  - WRKY; <i>ZmWRKY25</i>; ABA; drought tolerance; maize

DO  - 10.32604/phyton.2024.052704