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Peer-reviewedCC BYFrontiers in plant science

Genome-wide identification of the WRKY gene family in Codonopsis pilosula and functional analysis of CpWRKY8 under drought stress

  • Shiyi Song1
  • Meiqi Liu1
  • Meiqi Zhang2
  • Shan Jiang1
  • Shuangshuang Shan1
  • Weichao Ren1
  • Weili Liu1
  • Huiyan Cao1
  • Xiubo Liu1
  • Wei Ma1
  1. 1College of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin , ,
  2. 2Heilongjiang Vocational Institute of Ecological Engineering, Harbin , ,
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Abstract

Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf., a perennial herbaceous species in the family Campanulaceae, is widely used in traditional medicine for its dried roots. Drought stress severely constrains both the yield and the accumulation of bioactive compounds in this species. In this study, we performed a genome-wide identification and phylogenetic analysis of the WRKY TF (TF) family in C. pilosula , identifying 49 members that were classified into seven subfamilies. Among them, CpWRKY8 , a member of the Group IIa subfamily, localized to the nucleus and showed transcriptional activation activity in yeast. Under drought stress conditions, Nicotiana tabacum plants overexpressing (OE) CpWRKY8 exhibited greater tolerance to drought stress than wild-type (WT) N. tabacum plants, as evidenced by higher survival rates, lower malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and higher superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities; furthermore, these physiological advantages were largely maintained following rehydration. Furthermore, yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) and dual-luciferase reporter (DLR) assays demonstrated that the abscisic acid (ABA) receptor CpPYR/PYL activated the CpWRKY8 promoter in heterologous systems. In summary, we propose a working model in which CpPYR/PYL indirectly upregulates CpWRKY8 ; this module enhances drought tolerance by increasing antioxidant capacity, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the molecular breeding of drought-tolerant medicinal plants.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{song2026genomewide,
  title = {{Genome-wide identification of the WRKY gene family in Codonopsis pilosula and functional analysis of CpWRKY8 under drought stress}},
  author = {Shiyi Song and Meiqi Liu and Meiqi Zhang and Shan Jiang and Shuangshuang Shan and Weichao Ren and Weili Liu and Huiyan Cao and Xiubo Liu and Wei Ma},
  journal = {Frontiers in plant science},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.3389/fpls.2026.1961042},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13661422},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Genome-wide identification of the WRKY gene family in Codonopsis pilosula and functional analysis of CpWRKY8 under drought stress
AU  - Shiyi Song
AU  - Meiqi Liu
AU  - Meiqi Zhang
AU  - Shan Jiang
AU  - Shuangshuang Shan
AU  - Weichao Ren
AU  - Weili Liu
AU  - Huiyan Cao
AU  - Xiubo Liu
AU  - Wei Ma
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
JO  - Frontiers in plant science
DO  - 10.3389/fpls.2026.1961042
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13661422
AB  - Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf., a perennial herbaceous species in the family Campanulaceae, is widely used in traditional medicine for its dried roots. Drought stress severely constrains both the yield and the accumulation of bioactive compounds in this species. In this study, we performed a genome-wide identification and phylogenetic analysis of the WRKY TF (TF) family in C. pilosula , identifying 49 members that were classified into seven subfamilies. Among them, CpWRKY8 , a member of the Group IIa subfamily, localized to the nucleus and showed transcriptional activation activity in yeast. Under drought stress conditions, Nicotiana tabacum plants overexpressing (OE) CpWRKY8 exhibited greater tolerance to drought stress than wild-type (WT) N. tabacum plants, as evidenced by higher survival rates, lower malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and higher superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities; furthermore, these physiological advantages were largely maintained following rehydration. Furthermore, yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) and dual-luciferase reporter (DLR) assays demonstrated that the abscisic acid (ABA) receptor CpPYR/PYL activated the CpWRKY8 promoter in heterologous systems. In summary, we propose a working model in which CpPYR/PYL indirectly upregulates CpWRKY8 ; this module enhances drought tolerance by increasing antioxidant capacity, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the molecular breeding of drought-tolerant medicinal plants.
SN  - 1664-462X
ER  -