Despite identification of WRKY family genes in numerous plant species, a little is known about WRKY genes in watermelon, one of the most economically important fruit crops around the world. Here, we identified a total of 63 putative WRKY genes in watermelon and classified them into three major groups (I-III) and five subgroups (IIa-IIe) in group II. The structure analysis indicated that ClWRKYs with different WRKY domains or motifs may play different roles by regulating respective target genes. The expressions of ClWRKYs in different tissues indicate that they are involved in various tissue growth and development. Furthermore, the diverse responses of ClWRKYs to drought, salt, or cold stress suggest that they positively or negatively affect plant tolerance to various abiotic stresses. In addition, the altered expression patterns of ClWRKYs in response to phytohormones such as, ABA, SA, MeJA, and ETH, imply the occurrence of complex cross-talks between ClWRKYs and plant hormone signals in regulating plant physiological and biological processes. Taken together, our findings provide valuable clues to further explore the function and regulatory mechanisms of ClWRKY genes in watermelon growth, development, and adaption to environmental stresses.

尽管在许多植物物种中都鉴定了WRKY家族基因，但对西瓜中的WRKY基因却知之甚少，西瓜是世界上最重要的经济作物之一。在这里，我们在西瓜中鉴定出总共63个推定的WRKY基因，并将它们分为第二组的三个主要组（I-III）和五个亚组（IIa-IIe）。结构分析表明，具有不同WRKY结构域或基序的ClWRKY可能通过调节各自的靶基因而发挥不同的作用。ClWRKY在不同组织中的表达表明它们参与了各种组织的生长和发育。此外，ClWRKY的不同回应干旱，盐分或寒冷胁迫表明它们对植物对各种非生物胁迫的耐受性产生了积极或消极的影响。另外，响应于植物激素例如ABA，SA，MeJA和ETH，ClWRKYs的表达模式改变了，这暗示了ClWRKYs与植物激素信号之间复杂的串扰的发生在调节植物生理和生物学过程中。综上所述，我们的发现为进一步探索ClWRKY基因在西瓜生长，发育和适应环境胁迫中的功能和调控机制提供了宝贵的线索。