Drought stress is a severe environmental factor that greatly restricts plant distribution and crop production. Transgenic breeding offers new opportunities for developing drought-resistant varieties. The WRKY transcription factors have been reported to be involved in various plant physiological and biochemical processes. In this study, we report the impact of TaWRKY46 on abiotic tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The transcription levels of the TaWRKY46 gene were differentially regulated by diverse abiotic stresses and hormone treatments, including PEG-induced stress (20% polyethylene glycol 6000), cold (4 °C), salt (100 mM NaCl), abscisic acid (100 μM ABA) and hydrogen peroxide (10 mM H₂O₂). The TaWRKY46-GFP fusion protein was localized to the nucleus of wheat protoplast. The N-terminal of TaWRKY46 showed transcriptional activation activity. Overexpression of TaWRKY46 in wheat resulted in enhanced drought stress tolerance. TaWRKY46-overexpressing plants exhibited increase survival rate, soluble sugar, proline and superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as higher activities of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD), but lower contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and H₂O₂ content. Taken together, our results indicate that TaWRKY46 functions as a positive factor under drought stress by regulating the osmotic balance and ROS scavenging.

干旱胁迫是一种严重的环境因素，极大地限制了植物分布和作物生产。转基因育种为开发抗旱品种提供了新的机会。据报道，WRKY 转录因子参与各种植物生理和生化过程。在这项研究中，我们报告了TaWRKY46对小麦 ( Triticum aestivum L. )非生物耐受性的影响。TaWRKY46基因的转录水平受到多种非生物胁迫和激素处理的差异调节，包括 PEG 诱导的胁迫（20% 聚乙二醇 6000）、冷（4 °C）、盐（100 mM NaCl）、脱落酸（100 μM ABA) 和过氧化氢 (10 mM H ₂ O ₂）。TaWRKY46-GFP 融合蛋白定位于小麦原生质体的细胞核。TaWRKY46的 N 端显示出转录激活活性。TaWRKY46在小麦中的过表达导致干旱胁迫耐受性增强。TaWRKY46 过表达植株的存活率、可溶性糖、脯氨酸和超氧化物歧化酶 (SOD) 增加，过氧化氢酶 (CAT) 和过氧化物酶 (POD) 活性更高，但丙二醛 (MDA) 和 H ₂ O ₂含量较低. 总之，我们的结果表明TaWRKY46通过调节渗透平衡和 ROS 清除在干旱胁迫下发挥积极作用。