Identification of wheat AP2 gene family, Cloning of TaAP2-34, and patterns analysis by Overexpression in Arabidopsis

Identification of wheat AP2 gene family, Cloning of TaAP2-34, and patterns analysis by Overexpression in Arabidopsis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Identification of wheat AP2 gene family, Cloning of TaAP2-34, and patterns analysis by Overexpression in Arabidopsis Nan Zhao, Jiaang Cao, Xuesong Wang, Xinyue Wang, Qiang Wang, Yifan Hu, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9369843/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background As a subfamily of the AP2/ERF gene family, the AP2 family is mainly involved in responses to abiotic stresses and the regulation of growth and development in various plant organs. Exploring the characteristics of wheat AP2 genes and understanding their expression patterns under diverse stress conditions is of great significance. In this study, we focused on TaAP2-34 , a member of the AP2 family that exhibits significant differential responses to stress, and performed its cloning and functional verification. We further clarified its expression patterns under low-temperature and drought stresses, aiming to provide a theoretical basis and experimental support for elucidating the stress-resistant regulatory mechanisms of the wheat AP2 gene family, mining key stress-resistant gene resources, and promoting molecular breeding for stress resistance in wheat. Results In this study, we found that most wheat AP2 proteins were weakly acidic and hydrophilic. Their corresponding genes were distributed on 21 chromosomes. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that they were mainly located in the plasma membrane and cytoplasm, with a few in the nucleus. The AP2 protein domains and core motifs of wheat were orderly, stable and highly conserved.One AP2 gene ( TaAP2-34 ) that was differentially expressed under various stresses in the transcriptome database was verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Under drought stress, the expression level of TaAP2-34 in wheat leaves first increased and then decreased with prolonged drought time, reaching the highest value at 6h. The expression level of TaAP2-34 in tiller nodes also showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing with drought time, peaking at 12h. Under low-temperature stress, the expression levels of TaAP2-34 in both wheat leaves and tiller nodes increased with decreasing temperature and reached the maximum at -25 ℃. TaAP2-34 transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana exhibited significantly lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, but higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities, than WT plants. Conclusion The wheat AP2 gene family responds to various abiotic stresses. TaAP2-34 plays an important role in drought and low-temperature stresses, providing a theoretical basis for molecular breeding of stress resistance in wheat. Triticum aestivum AP2 transcription factor family abiotic stress response Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementarydocumentforfigures.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 06 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 22 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 22 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 20 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 18 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 18 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9369843","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":628407558,"identity":"aff621a7-cb6a-40d7-8d19-07b64c40f4df","order_by":0,"name":"Nan Zhao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Qiqihar University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nan","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""},{"id":628407560,"identity":"35b6dedc-ec99-4b16-8eec-b3fcbd9eb08e","order_by":1,"name":"Jiaang Cao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Qiqihar 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Overexpression in Arabidopsis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-plant-biology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"pbio","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Plant Biology](http://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/pbio/default.aspx","title":"BMC Plant Biology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC 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Exploring the characteristics of wheat AP2 genes and understanding their expression patterns under diverse stress conditions is of great significance. In this study, we focused on \u003cem\u003eTaAP2-34\u003c/em\u003e, a member of the AP2 family that exhibits significant differential responses to stress, and performed its cloning and functional verification. We further clarified its expression patterns under low-temperature and drought stresses, aiming to provide a theoretical basis and experimental support for elucidating the stress-resistant regulatory mechanisms of the wheat AP2 gene family, mining key stress-resistant gene resources, and promoting molecular breeding for stress resistance in wheat.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this study, we found that most wheat AP2 proteins were weakly acidic and hydrophilic. Their corresponding genes were distributed on 21 chromosomes. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that they were mainly located in the plasma membrane and cytoplasm, with a few in the nucleus. The AP2 protein domains and core motifs of wheat were orderly, stable and highly conserved.One AP2 gene (\u003cem\u003eTaAP2-34\u003c/em\u003e) that was differentially expressed under various stresses in the transcriptome database was verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Under drought stress, the expression level of \u003cem\u003eTaAP2-34\u003c/em\u003e in wheat leaves first increased and then decreased with prolonged drought time, reaching the highest value at 6h. The expression level of \u003cem\u003eTaAP2-34\u003c/em\u003e in tiller nodes also showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing with drought time, peaking at 12h. Under low-temperature stress, the expression levels of \u003cem\u003eTaAP2-34\u003c/em\u003e in both wheat leaves and tiller nodes increased with decreasing temperature and reached the maximum at -25 ℃.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTaAP2-34\u003c/em\u003e transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana exhibited significantly lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, but higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities, than WT plants.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wheat AP2 gene family responds to various abiotic stresses. \u003cem\u003eTaAP2-34\u003c/em\u003eplays an important role in drought and low-temperature stresses, providing a theoretical basis for molecular breeding of stress resistance in wheat.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Identification of wheat AP2 gene family, Cloning of TaAP2-34, and patterns analysis by Overexpression in Arabidopsis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-02 18:57:39","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9369843/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-07T03:05:35+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"275339089510567460158405784559178497006","date":"2026-04-22T08:57:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-22T05:34:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-04-22T05:30:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-20T04:30:01+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-04-18T06:42:01+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Plant Biology","date":"2026-04-18T06:36:02+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-plant-biology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"pbio","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Plant Biology](http://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/pbio/default.aspx","title":"BMC Plant Biology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c6f374a8-7084-4474-856d-7e27c89345d5","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 2nd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-07T03:05:35+00:00","index":65,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-02T18:57:39+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-02 18:57:39","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9369843","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9369843","identity":"rs-9369843","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}