Genome-Wide Identification of WRKY Genes in : Characterization of a Putative Ortholog of .

L. is well-known as the plant source of artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone with effective antimalarial activity. Here, a putative ortholog of the WRKY40 transcription factor (TF) was isolated via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and rapid amplification of cDNA ends in and named . A putative nuclear localization domain was identified in silico and experimentally confirmed by using protoplasts of transiently transformed with . A genome-wide analysis identified 122 genes in , and a manually curated database was obtained. The deduced proteins were categorized into the major WRKY groups, with group IIa containing eight WRKY members including AaWRKY40. Protein motifs, gene structure, and promoter regions of group IIa WRKY TFs of were characterized. The promoter region of group IIa genes contained several abiotic stress -acting regulatory elements, among which a highly conserved W-box motif was identified. Expression analysis of compared to in cell cultures treated with methyl jasmonate known to enhance artemisinin production, suggested a possible involvement of in terpenoid metabolism. Further investigation is necessary to study the role of AaWRKY40 and possible interactions with other TFs in .