Positive regulation of the Eucommia rubber biosynthesis-related gene EuFPS1 by EuWRKY30 in Eucommia ulmoides

Shuwen Zhang; Hao Chen; Shun Wang; Kang Du; Lianjun Song; Tingting Xu; Yufei Xia; Ruihua Guo; Xiangyang Kang; Yun Li

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131751

Positive regulation of the Eucommia rubber biosynthesis-related gene EuFPS1 by EuWRKY30 in Eucommia ulmoides

Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Apr 22;268(Pt 1):131751. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131751. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shuwen Zhang¹, Hao Chen¹, Shun Wang¹, Kang Du¹, Lianjun Song², Tingting Xu¹, Yufei Xia¹, Ruihua Guo¹, Xiangyang Kang¹, Yun Li³

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
² Weixian Eucommia National Forest Tree Germplasm Repository, Weixian Forestry Cultivation Base of Superior Species, Hebei, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: liyun_365@bjfu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38657917
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131751

Abstract

Eucommia rubber is a secondary metabolite from Eucommia ulmoides that has attracted much attention because of its unique properties and enormous potential for application. However, the transcriptional mechanism regulating its biosynthesis has not yet been determined. Farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase is a key enzyme in the Eucommia rubber biosynthesis. In this study, the promoter of EuFPS1 was used as bait, EuWRKY30 was screened from the cDNA library of EuFPS1 via a yeast one-hybrid system. EuWRKY30 belongs to the WRKY IIa subfamily and contains a WRKY domain and a C2H2 zinc finger motif, and the expressed protein is located in the nucleus. EuWRKY30 and EuFPS1 exhibited similar tissue expression patterns, and yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase experiments confirmed that EuWRKY30 directly binds to the W-box element in the EuFPS1 promoter and activates its expression. Moreover, the overexpression of EuWRKY30 significantly upregulated the expression level of EuFPS1, further increasing the density of the rubber particles and Eucommia rubber content. The results of this study indicated that EuWRKY30 positively regulates EuFPS1, which plays a critical role in the synthesis of Eucommia rubber, provided a basis for further analysis of the underlying transcriptional regulatory mechanisms.

Keywords: EuFPS1; EuWRKY30; Eucommia rubber; Eucommia ulmoides; Secondary metabolism; Transcriptional regulatory.