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Review
. 2024 Nov 4;13(21):3108.
doi: 10.3390/plants13213108.

Plant Growth Regulators: An Overview of WOX Gene Family

Haroon Rasheed  1 , Lin Shi  1 , Chichi Winarsih  1 , Bello Hassan Jakada  2 , Rusong Chai  3 , Haijiao Huang  1
Affiliations
Review

Plant Growth Regulators: An Overview of WOX Gene Family

Haroon Rasheed et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

The adaptation of plants to land requires sophisticated biological processes and signaling. Transcription factors (TFs) regulate several cellular and metabolic activities, as well as signaling pathways in plants during stress and growth and development. The WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX (WOX) genes are TFs that are part of the homeodomain (HD) family, which is important for the maintenance of apical meristem, stem cell niche, and other cellular processes. The WOX gene family is divided into three clades: ancient, intermediate, and modern (WUS) based on historical evolution linkage. The number of WOX genes in the plant body increases as plants grow more complex and varies in different species. Numerous research studies have discovered that the WOX gene family play a role in the whole plant's growth and development, such as in the stem, embryo, root, flower, and leaf. This review comprehensively analyzes roles of the WOX gene family across various plant species, highlighting the evolutionary significance and potential biotechnological applications in stress resistance and crop improvement.

Keywords: WOX genes; abiotic stress; biotechnology; plant growth and development; transcription factor.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The frequency of WOX genes in three (ancient, intermediate, and modern/WUS) clades. Full-length sequences from rice (Os, in purple color range), Arabidopsis (At, blue color range), A. chinensis (Ac, orange color range), and A. eriantha (Ae, green color range). The modern/WUS clade is the largest clade type of the WOX gene family.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The phylogenetic analysis and gene structure comparison of the WOX gene family between Arabidopsis thaliana and Betula Platyphylla. The left-hand-side rooted tree indicates the different clades of the WOX gene family. The untranslated region (UTR) in green at the beginning and end of the gene is important for regulation and stability while the coding sequence (CDS) in yellow indicates the part of the gene that is translated into protein. Different motifs within the CDS are highlighted in different colors. Motif 1: light green, motif 2: yellow, motif 3: red, motif 4: blue, and motif 5: cyan. The horizontal scale at the bottom indicates the base pair length for each gene model, facilitating a comparison of gene size and motif lengths.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Organs and tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana, regarding their production and functioning, which are influenced by WOX TFs. This is a complete explanation of the function of WOX in plants’ developmental process.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The relationship plot between the WOX gene and its targeted gene. The X-axis shows WOX gene members, and the Y-axis shows the genes that work with the WOX transcription factors. Genes related to auxin and cytokinin are included. The blue dot shows the target of the genes and WOX members.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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