Deming Yu , Shengyu Chen

Modern Agricultural Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Legume Genomics and Genetics, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 2   
Received: 20 Jan., 2025    Accepted: 05 Mar., 2025    Published: 25 Mar., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

WRKY transcription factors play pivotal roles in regulating plant responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, a comprehensive genome-wide identification and analysis of WRKY transcription factors were conducted in Cicer arietinum (chickpea), a key legume crop with growing importance in stress biology. Using advanced bioinformatics tools, we identified and annotated the complete set of WRKY genes in the chickpea genome, classifying them into groups I, II, and III based on conserved domains and structural features. The chromosomal distribution, gene structures, and phylogenetic relationships were analyzed to provide insights into their evolutionary patterns. Expression profiling under drought, salinity, and pathogen stress conditions (e.g., Fusarium and Ascochyta) revealed several stress-responsive WRKY genes with distinct tissue-specific and developmental expression patterns. We further explored their regulatory networks, including interactions with key signaling molecules (ABA, JA, SA) and crosstalk with other transcription factor families. A detailed case study highlighted the role of selected WRKY genes in drought tolerance, supported by phenotypic assessments under water-deficit conditions. Functional validation through overexpression, gene silencing, and omics approaches-such as transcriptomics and CRISPR/Cas-based editing-provided strong evidence for the functional roles of specific WRKY genes. This study underscores the significance of WRKY transcription factors in stress adaptation and sets the foundation for their application in marker-assisted selection and breeding of stress-resilient chickpea varieties.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum); WRKY transcription factors; Abiotic and biotic stress; Gene expression profiling; Functional genomics