| Summary: | WRKY transcription factors (TFs), which are plant-specific TFs, play significant roles in plant defense. Here, a pathogen-induced WRKY gene, named <i>AktWRKY12</i>, which was the homologous gene of <i>AtWRKY12</i>, was isolated from <i>Akebia trifoliata</i>. The <i>AktWRKY12</i> gene has a total length of 645 nucleotides and an open reading frame (ORF) encoding 214 amino acid polypeptides. The characterizations of AktWRKY12 were subsequently performed with the ExPASy online tool Compute pI/Mw, PSIPRED and SWISS-MODEL softwares. The AktWRKY12 could be classified as a member of WRKY group II-c TFs based on sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis. The results of tissue-specific expression analysis revealed that the <i>AktWRKY12</i> gene was expressed in all the tested tissues, and the highest expression level was detected in <i>A. trifoliata</i> leaves. Subcellular localization analysis showed that AktWRKY12 was a nuclear protein. Results showed that the expression level of <i>AktWRKY12</i> significantly increased in <i>A. trifoliata</i> leaves with pathogen infection. Furthermore, heterologous over-expression of <i>AktWRKY12</i> in tobacco resulted in suppressed expression of lignin synthesis key enzyme genes. Based on our results, we speculate that AktWRKY12 might play a negative role in <i>A. trifoliata</i> responding to biotic stress by regulating the expression of lignin synthesis key enzyme genes during pathogen infection.
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