Exploring the Critical Function and Molecular Mechanism of WRKY Transcription Factor Family in Regulating Plant Response Under Abiotic Stress Conditions

Environmental stresses adversely affect plant growth and development. However, the signaling pathways and metabolic response mechanisms may differ, and most types of abiotic stresses affect the cellular redox homeostasis ultimately affecting the yield performance of the plant. In response, plants evolve several regulatory proteins that act as central regulators of abiotic stress responses involved in temperature, salinity, and oxidative stresses. Plants rapidly respond through complex genetic and biochemical networks primarily by transducing signals to stress-related transcription factors (TFs) such as MYB, bZIP, AP2/EREBP, NAC, and WRKY of which WRKY is the most extensively studied TF family in different plant stress responses. The WRKY gene family encodes a large group of transcription factors (TFs) that play essential roles in diverse stress responses and developmental processes. Here, we summarize the regulatory mechanisms of WRKY transcription factors and their responses to different abiotic stress conditions. We also discuss the future perspectives of WRKY transcription factor research.