Characterization and expression analysis of the transcription factor BcWRKY70 in Bupleurum chinense DC.

The plant-specific WRKY transcription factor family is involved in the regulation of the response of plants to various environmental factors and biological stress. To study the role of the BcWRKY70 gene in Bupleurum chinense DC., we cloned the open reading frame (ORF) sequence of the BcWRKY70 gene based on the transcriptome database. Bioinformatics analysis of BcWRKY70 and promoter region analysis was carried out, and real-time qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression pattern of BcWRKY70 in different tissues and under the different hormone treatments. The results show that the BcWRKY70 ORF is 948 bp in length, encoding 316 amino acids with a typical WRKY domain. Phylogenetic analysis showed that BcWRKY70 is closely related to GhWRKY70. Its promoter region contains cis-elements that presumably respond to environmental factors such as drought, methyl jasmonic acid (MeJA), and abscisic acid (ABA). qRT-PCR analyses showed that BcWRKY70 is most highly expressed in roots and can quickly respond to MeJA and ABA induction. This study provides a basis for further research on the molecular mechanism of BcWRKY70 in B. chinense DC. resistance.