Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of the WRKY Gene Families in Vaccinium bracteatum

The WRKY gene family is a widely distributed and highly conserved transcription factor (TF) family in plants, with its members playing key roles in plant growth and development, stress response, and metabolism. Although WRKY TFs have been extensively studied in many plant species, research on the WRKY gene family in Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb. remains limited. Therefore, integrating molecular biology and bioinformatics approaches to further explore the WRKY gene family in V. bracteatum is of considerable scientific importance. In this study, we employed various online tools to obtain genomic and expression data, which were subsequently analyzed to determine the composition, evolutionary relationships, and functions of WRKY family genes in V. bracteatum. A total of 66 WRKY genes (VaWRKY) were identified, named based on homology alignment. Phylogenetic analysis classified the 66 VaWRKYs into three major clades and seven subclades. Sequence and structural analyses of VaWRKY genes provided insights into their evolutionary and functional characteristics. Expression profile analysis revealed significant differences in the expression of 12 VaWRKY genes at various stages of fruit development. Protein interaction analysis further indicated that VaWRKY genes are functionally diverse, playing important roles in stress response, seed germination regulation, and plant growth and development. In summary, we have a deeper understanding of VaWRKY genes, and systematic analysis of structure, evolutionary characteristics, and expression patterns plays an important role in analyzing its biological functions, molecular breeding, and enhancing economic value.