Longan is an important fruit tree in the subtropical region of Southeast Asia and Australia. However, its blooming and its yield are susceptible to stresses such as droughts, high salinity, and high and low temperature. To date, the molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance and flower induction in longan have not been elucidated. WRKY transcription factors (TFs), which have been studied in various plant species, play important regulatory roles in plant growth, development, and responses to stresses. However, there is no report about WRKYs in longan. In this study, we identified 55 WRKY genes with the conserved WRKY domain and zinc finger motif in the longan genome. Based on the structural features of WRKY proteins and topology of the phylogenetic tree, the longan WRKY (DlWRKY) family was classified into three major groups (I⁻III) and five subgroups (IIa⁻IIe) in group II. Tissue expression analysis showed that 25 DlWRKYs were highly expressed in almost all organs, suggesting that these genes may be important for plant growth and organ development in longan. Comparative RNA-seq and qRT-PCR-based gene expression analysis revealed that 18 DlWRKY genes showed a specific expression during three stages of flower induction in "Sijimi" ("SJ"), which exhibited the "perpetual flowering" (PF) habit, indicating that these 18 DlWRKY genes may be involved in the flower induction and the genetic control of the perpetual flowering trait in longan. Furthermore, the RT-qPCR analysis illustrated the significant variation of 27, 18, 15, 17, 27, and 23 DlWRKY genes under SA (Salicylic acid), MeJA (Methyl Jasmonate), heat, cold, drought, or high salinity treatment, respectively, implicating that they might be stress- or hormone-responsive genes. In summary, we systematically and comprehensively analyzed the structure, evolution, and expression pattern of the DlWRKY genes. The results presented here increase our understanding of the WRKY family in fruit trees and provide a basis for the further elucidation of the biological function of DlWRKY genes in longan.
Keywords: WRKY; abiotic stress; expression analysis; flower induction; longan.