Pepper is an agriculturally important crop that is highly affected by heat stress, which causes major losses in crop productivity globally. In humid conditions, heat stress increases pepper's susceptibility to diseases. A group of enzymes called transcription factors (TF) play roles in the plant's response to heat stress. WRKY TFs are observed to have varying levels of expression in plants under heat stress, indicating the role of these TFs in heat response.

Using qRT PCR, researcher Fengfeng Dang from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University in China and colleagues determined the expression of a WRKY gene CaWRKY27 in pepper during heat stress and found a maximum of 3-fold increase of gene expression than normal plants during stress. To confirm the role of the gene in heat stress response, the gene was expressed in Arabidopsis using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and the researchers found induction of gene expression when subjected to heat stress. Thus, they concluded that the pepper gene CaWRKY27 might be involved in heat stress response.

For more information, read the article Frontiers in Plant Science.