The WRKY superfamily of plant transcription factors

The WRKY proteins are a superfamily of transcription factors with up to 100 representatives in Arabidopsis. Family members appear to be involved in the regulation of various physio-logical programs that are unique to plants, including pathogen defense, senescence and trichome development. In spite of the strong conservation of their DNA-binding domain, the overall structures of WRKY proteins are highly divergent and can be categorized into distinct groups, which might reflect their different functions.