Overexpression of <i>AcWRKY31</i> Increases Sensitivity to Salt and Drought and Improves Tolerance to Mealybugs in Pineapple
Myat Hnin Wai,
Tiantian Luo,
S. V. G. N. Priyadarshani,
Qiao Zhou,
Mohammad Aqa Mohammadi,
Han Cheng,
Mohammad Aslam,
Chang Liu,
Gaifeng Chai,
Dongping Huang,
Yanhui Liu,
Hanyang Cai,
Xiaomei Wang,
Yuan Qin,
Lulu Wang
Affiliations
Myat Hnin Wai
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Tiantian Luo
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
S. V. G. N. Priyadarshani
Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, New Kandy Road, Malabe 10115, Sri Lanka
Qiao Zhou
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Mohammad Aqa Mohammadi
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Han Cheng
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Mohammad Aslam
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Chang Liu
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Gaifeng Chai
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Dongping Huang
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Yanhui Liu
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Hanyang Cai
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Xiaomei Wang
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Yuan Qin
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Lulu Wang
College of Agriculture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Pineapple is a globally significant tropical fruit, but its cultivation faces numerous challenges due to abiotic and biotic stresses, affecting its quality and quantity. WRKY transcription factors are known regulators of stress responses, however, their specific functions in pineapple are not fully understood. This study investigates the role of AcWRKY31 by overexpressing it in pineapple and Arabidopsis. Transgenic pineapple lines were obtained using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation methods and abiotic and biotic stress treatments. Transgenic AcWRKY31-OE pineapple plants showed an increased sensitivity to salt and drought stress and an increased resistance to biotic stress from pineapple mealybugs compared to that of WT plants. Similar experiments in AcWRKY31-OE, AtWRKY53-OE, and the Arabidopsis Atwrky53 mutant were performed and consistently confirmed these findings. A comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed 5357 upregulated genes in AcWRKY31-OE pineapple, with 30 genes related to disease and pathogen response. Notably, 18 of these genes contained a W-box sequence in their promoter region. A KEGG analysis of RNA-Seq data showed that upregulated DEG genes are mostly involved in translation, protein kinases, peptidases and inhibitors, membrane trafficking, folding, sorting, and degradation, while the downregulated genes are involved in metabolism, protein families, signaling, and cellular processes. RT-qPCR assays of selected genes confirmed the transcriptomic results. In summary, the AcWRKY31 gene is promising for the improvement of stress responses in pineapple, and it could be a valuable tool for plant breeders to develop stress-tolerant crops in the future.
