LcWRKY17 , a WRKY Transcription Factor from Litsea cubeba , Effectively Promotes Monoterpene Synthesis.

The gene family is one of the most significant transcription factor (TF) families in higher plants and participates in many secondary metabolic processes in plants. (Lour.) Person is an important woody oil plant that is high in terpenoids. However, no studies have been conducted to investigate the WRKY TFs that regulate the synthesis of terpene in . This paper provides a comprehensive genomic analysis of the . In the genome, 64 genes were discovered. According to a comparative phylogenetic study with , these were divided into three groups. Some genes may have arisen from gene duplication, but the majority of evolution has been driven by segmental duplication events. Based on transcriptome data, a consistent expression pattern of and terpene synthase was found at different stages of fruit development. Furthermore, the function of was verified by subcellular localization and transient overexpression, and overexpression of promotes monoterpene synthesis. Meanwhile, dual-Luciferase and yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) experiments showed that the transcription factor binds to W-box motifs of and enhances its transcription. In conclusion, this research provided a fundamental framework for future functional analysis of the gene families, as well as breeding improvement and the regulation of secondary metabolism in .