Abstract:
Abiotic stress is the major cause of the decrease in the quality and yield of crops worldwide.
Due to changing environmental conditions, growing crops is more challenging than ever. To
increase the yield of crop plants, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance is crucial. The changes at a
biochemical and physiological level due to stress conditions are responded to by altering gene
expression. Gene expression is controlled by transcription factors at the transcriptome level. One
such transcription factor with a reported role in abiotic stress tolerance is the Vascular one-zinc
finger protein (VOZ) transcription factor family including VOZ1 and VOZ2. Transcriptional
regulation of stress-responsive mechanisms and genes can help plants survive during stress and
increase the yield and quality of crops. The current study is an attempt to find vascular one-zinc
finger (VOZ) genes in important crops through in-silico analysis and to confirm the presence of
(VOZ) genes in Triticum aestivum through expression analysis against three different abiotic
stresses i.e., salt stress, nitrogen variation stress, and drought stress. For this study, 26
spermatophytes were selected keeping Arabidopsis as a model plant to find VOZ genes and the
similarity of VOZ genes in these plants via phylogenetic analysis. Further, stress assays were
performed in a hydroponic system recording physiological data of plants at two different time
intervals under different conditions. In-silico analysis, statistical results of phenotypic data, and
gene expression data reveal the domain architecture, its relation to abiotic stress, variation in
physiological parameters at different treatments, and VOZ genes up/ down-regulation in response
to salt, drought, and variable nitrogen stress.
