CtWD40-6 enhances the UV-B tolerance of safflower by regulating flavonoid accumulation

Yingqi Hong; Shiwen Zhou; Jianyi Zhang; Yanxi Lv; Na Yao; Xiuming Liu

doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2025.109476

CtWD40-6 enhances the UV-B tolerance of safflower by regulating flavonoid accumulation

Plant Physiol Biochem. 2025 Jan 3:220:109476. doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2025.109476. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yingqi Hong¹, Shiwen Zhou², Jianyi Zhang³, Yanxi Lv⁴, Na Yao⁵, Xiuming Liu⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Horticulture, Haixia Institute of Science and Technology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China; Institute for Safflower Industry Research / Pharmacy School of Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, China. Electronic address: hyq985676490@163.com.
² College of Horticulture, Haixia Institute of Science and Technology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China. Electronic address: shiwenzzn@163.com.
³ College of Life Sciences, Engineering Research Center of the Chinese Ministry of Education for Bioreactor and Pharmaceutical Development, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China. Electronic address: zjy723485@163.com.
⁴ College of Life Sciences, Engineering Research Center of the Chinese Ministry of Education for Bioreactor and Pharmaceutical Development, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China. Electronic address: lyx17843095970@163.com.
⁵ College of Life Sciences, Engineering Research Center of the Chinese Ministry of Education for Bioreactor and Pharmaceutical Development, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China. Electronic address: yaona1103@126.com.
⁶ College of Life Sciences, Engineering Research Center of the Chinese Ministry of Education for Bioreactor and Pharmaceutical Development, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China; Institute for Safflower Industry Research / Pharmacy School of Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, China. Electronic address: xiuming1211@163.com.

PMID: 39765125
DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2025.109476

Abstract

Moderate UV-B promotes plant growth, but excessive UV-B inhibits plant development. The induction mechanism of how CtWD40-6 responds to UV-B is still unclear in safflower. Our results showed that CtWD40-6 is expressed at the top of safflower leaves and is strongly induced by UV-B. To further understand the function of the CtWD40-6 gene, we overexpressed the CtWD40-6 gene in safflower or Arabidopsis. First, different transgenic materials were treated with UV-B, and we found that the survival rate of plants overexpressing CtWD40-6 was significantly higher than that of the WT type. In contrast, the survival rate of wd40-6 mutant plants was significantly decreased compared with WT type. Then DAB, NBT and Trypan Blue staining were performed on different transgenic plants before and after UV-B treatment and the results showed that the staining of mutant and WT was significantly higher than that of overexpressing CtWD40-6. By comparing the data before and after UV-B stress, we found that the flavonoid content, antioxidant enzyme activity, chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate of transgenic plants overexpressing CtWD40-6 were higher than those of WT and mutants, thereby obtaining better UV-B tolerance. Finally, we used yeast two-hybrid and luciferase complementation experiments to prove that CtWD40-6 increases the content of safflower flavonoids by interacting with CtANS1/CtCHS1/Ct4CL1/CtFLS1, thereby enhancing the plant's UV-B tolerance. The above results provide a theoretical basis for preliminary analysis of how safflower responds to UV-B stress through the transcriptional regulation of CtWD40-6.

Keywords: CtWD40-6; Flavonoid; Safflower; UV-B.