abstract
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In wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), the content and composition of seed storage proteins (SSPs) are determinants of the elasticity of dough and flour processing quality. SSP synthesis is mainly regulated at the transcriptional level. To date, only a few transcriptional regulators of SSP synthesis have been identified in wheat. This work aims to characterize novel SSP gene regulators at the genome-scale considering the correlated expression between transcriptional regulators and target genes. The expression data of different tissues including leaves, roots, stems, spikes, and grains were collected to screen the seed-specific genes. After the differential expression analysis, gene ontology enrichment analysis, and co-expression analysis, a total of 282 transcription factor (TF) genes were retained. Among these TF genes, TabZIP074 was selected for further analysis. RT-qPCR-based expression analysis confirmed that TabZIP074 was co-expressed with SSP genes. The subcellular localization assay showed that TabZIP074 was a nuclear-localized protein. The yeast transactivation assay showed that the transactivation activity of TabZIP074 relied on the α-helix at its C-terminal region. Yeast one-hybrid assay revealed that TabZIP074 directly bound to the promoter region of Glu-1Ax1. The transgenic wheat lines overexpressed and knocked-down of TabZIP074 were created, and the phenotype confirmation is ongoing.