Qiao Zhou;S. V. G. N. Priyadarshani;Rongjuan Qin;Han Cheng;Tao Luo;MyatHnin Wai;Mohammad Aqa Mohammadi;Qing Liu;Chang Liu;Hanyang Cai;Xiaomei Wang;Yeqiang Liu;Yuan Qin;Lulu Wan

State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, College of Life Science, College of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, College of Horticulture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Center for Genomics and Biotechnology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China;Guangxi Key Lab of Sugarcane Biology, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Chin;National Education Commission, BMICH, Colombo, 00700, Sri Lanka;Horticulture Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning Investigation Station of South Subtropical Fruit Trees, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanning, Guangxi 530007, China;Guangxi Key Lab of Sugarcane Biology, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China; State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, College of Life Science, College of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, College of Horticulture, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Center for Genomics and Biotechnology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China;Fishery Multiplication Management Station of Lijiang River Water Supply Hub Project, Guilin, Guangxi 541001, China

Pineapple;AcWRKY;AcCPK;Transcription factor;Salt stress;ChI

Unfavorable environmental cues severely affect crop productivity resulting in significant economic losses to farmers. In plants, multiple regulatory genes, such as the WRKY transcription factor (TF) family, modulate the expression of defense genes. However, the role of the pineapple WRKY genes is poorly understood. Here, we studied the pineapple WRKY gene, AcWRKY28, by generating AcWRKY28 over-expressing transgenic pineapple plants. Overexpression of AcWRKY28 enhanced the salt stress resistance in transgenic pineapple lines. Comparative transcriptome analysis of transgenic and wild-type pineapple plants showed that “plant-pathogen interaction” pathway genes, including 9 calcium-dependent protein kinases (CPKs), were up-regulated in AcWRKY28 over-expressing plants. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation and yeast one-hybrid assays revealed AcCPK12, AcCPK3, AcCPK8, AcCPK1, and AcCPK15 as direct targets of AcWRKY28. Consistently, the study of AcCPK12 over-expressing Arabidopsis lines showed that AcCPK12 enhances salt, drought, and disease resistance. This study shows that AcWRKY28 plays a crucial role in promoting salt stress resistance by activating the expression of AcCPK genes.