Dioscorea composita WRKY5 positively regulates AtSOD1 and AtABF2 to enhance drought and salt tolerances.

key messageDcWRKY5 increases the antioxidant enzyme activity and proline accumulation, oppositely, reduces the accumulation of ROS and MDA, through directly activating the genes expression, finally enhances the salt and drought tolerance. Drought and salinity are two main environmental factors that limit the large-scale cultivation of the medicinal plant Dioscorea composita (D. composita). WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play vital roles in regulating drought and salt tolerance in plants. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism of WRKY TF mediates drought and salt resistance of D. composita remains largely unknown. Here, we isolated and characterized a WRKY TF from D. composita, namely DcWRKY5, which was localized to the nucleus and bound to the W-box cis-acting elements. Expression pattern analysis showed that it was highly expressed in root and significantly up-regulated in the presence of salt, polyethylene glycol-6000 (PEG-6000) and abscisic acid (ABA). Heterologous expression of DcWRKY5 increased salt and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis, but was insensitive to ABA. In addition, compared with the wild type, the DcWRKY5 overexpressing transgenic lines had more proline, higher antioxidant enzyme (POD, SOD, and CAT) activities, less reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Correspondingly, the overexpression of DcWRKY5 modulated the expression of genes related to salt and drought stresses, such as AtSS1, AtP5CS1, AtCAT, AtSOD1, AtRD22, and AtABF2. Dual luciferase assay and Y1H were further confirmed that DcWRKY5 activate the promoter of AtSOD1 and AtABF2 through directly binding to the enrichment region of the W-box cis-acting elements. These results suggest that DcWRKY5 is a positive regulator of the drought and salt tolerance in D. composita and has potential applications in transgenic breeding.