Role of WRKY Transcription Factor
Superfamily in Plant Disease Management 11
Laxman Singh Rajput, Sumit Kumar Aggarwal, Sahil Mehta,
Sanjeev Kumar, Vennampally Nataraj, M. Shivakumar,
Hemant Singh Maheshwari, Sanjay Yadav, and Divyanshu Goswami
Abstract
In their natural habitat, the plants face numerous challenges from various plant
pathogens simultaneously. In response, they activate the stress-response related
machinery through regulation of a complex system of genes, miRNAs, siRNAs,
and most importantly, transcriptional factors (TFs). Among the various activated
TFs, WRKY TFs superfamily encodes maximum number of regulatory proteins.
The WRKY TFs regulate downstream genes by both direct (auto- and crossregulation) and indirect mechanisms (physical interactions within themselves or
other TFs, proteins, and small RNAs). All the WRKY TF members possess a
conserved WRKY domain consisting of nearly 60 amino acids with a specific
heptapeptide sequence (WRKYGQK), with a Zn2+-finger motif that binds to
specific cis-regulatory elements of defense gene called as W-box (TTGAC[C/T]).
This W-box has been reported to be contemporary in the genes promoter region
related to plants’ innate immunity including PAMP triggered immunity (PTI),
effectors triggered immunity (ETI), basal defense, and systemic acquired resistance (SAR). Because of this specific molecular orchestration primarily in plant
immunity, this WRKY TFs superfamily has been established as a good target in
L. S. Rajput (*) · S. Kumar · V. Nataraj · M. Shivakumar · H. S. Maheshwari · S. Yadav ·
D. Goswami
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
S. K. Aggarwal
ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
S. Mehta
Crop Improvement Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New
Delhi, India
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life sciences, Institute of Advanced Management and
Research, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
# The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte
Ltd. 2020
B. Giri, M. P. Sharma (eds.), Plant Stress Biology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9380-2_11
335
Superfamily in Plant Disease Management 11
Laxman Singh Rajput, Sumit Kumar Aggarwal, Sahil Mehta,
Sanjeev Kumar, Vennampally Nataraj, M. Shivakumar,
Hemant Singh Maheshwari, Sanjay Yadav, and Divyanshu Goswami
Abstract
In their natural habitat, the plants face numerous challenges from various plant
pathogens simultaneously. In response, they activate the stress-response related
machinery through regulation of a complex system of genes, miRNAs, siRNAs,
and most importantly, transcriptional factors (TFs). Among the various activated
TFs, WRKY TFs superfamily encodes maximum number of regulatory proteins.
The WRKY TFs regulate downstream genes by both direct (auto- and crossregulation) and indirect mechanisms (physical interactions within themselves or
other TFs, proteins, and small RNAs). All the WRKY TF members possess a
conserved WRKY domain consisting of nearly 60 amino acids with a specific
heptapeptide sequence (WRKYGQK), with a Zn2+-finger motif that binds to
specific cis-regulatory elements of defense gene called as W-box (TTGAC[C/T]).
This W-box has been reported to be contemporary in the genes promoter region
related to plants’ innate immunity including PAMP triggered immunity (PTI),
effectors triggered immunity (ETI), basal defense, and systemic acquired resistance (SAR). Because of this specific molecular orchestration primarily in plant
immunity, this WRKY TFs superfamily has been established as a good target in
L. S. Rajput (*) · S. Kumar · V. Nataraj · M. Shivakumar · H. S. Maheshwari · S. Yadav ·
D. Goswami
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
S. K. Aggarwal
ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
S. Mehta
Crop Improvement Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New
Delhi, India
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life sciences, Institute of Advanced Management and
Research, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
# The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte
Ltd. 2020
B. Giri, M. P. Sharma (eds.), Plant Stress Biology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9380-2_11
335