WOX5 — Triticum aestivum

Summary

TRAESCS3A02G368100 (TaWOX5) on wheat chromosome 3A encodes a WUSCHEL-like homeodomain protein with sequence-specific DNA binding, transcription corepressor activity, and additional annotated molecular functions including methionine adenosyltransferase, chitinase, and cytoskeletal motor activities. In wheat, TaWOX5 is associated with root development. The gene has been linked to numerous traits including root morphology, root mass density, lateral root length, plant height, stem elongation, days to flowering, seed set, seed coat morphology, leaf morphology, lignin content, jasmonic acid and cytokinin sensitivity, brassinosteroid sensitivity, abiotic stress response, low temperature tolerance, disease tolerance, and shoot meristem development. It is also associated with biological processes such as axillary shoot meristem initiation, procambium histogenesis, regeneration, gibberellic acid homeostasis, and response to oomycetes. Studies of related genes in other species link the family to crown root number, root branching, panicle morphology, grain length and width, tiller number, salt tolerance, and callus induction.