Fig. 1

Sequence alignment of KoWRKY40 protein and other eight WRKY TFs from group II. The information of these protein sequence are as follows: ALG05441.1 KoWRKY40 of Kandelia obovata, BAG15874.1 WRKY TF of Bruguiera gymnorhiza, XP_012076438.1 WRKY TF 18 of Jatropha curcas, AGV75953.1 WRKY TF 51 of Gossypium hirsutum, EOY29346.1 WRKY TF of Theobroma cacao, XP_021596529.1 WRKY TF 60 of Manihot esculenta, XP_006450293.1 WRKY TF 40 of Citrus clementina, XP_002308704.1 WRKY TF 40 of Populus trichocarpa, XP_034916364.1 WRKY TF 40 of Populus alba. The similar and selfsame amino acids among WRKY proteins are marked light and dark gray, respectively. The predicted α-helix and five β-strands are indicated at the top of the sequence by a black box and five wide white arrows, respectively. Conserved WRKYGQK of WRKY proteins used to stabilize the structure and recognize DNA has been marked with a red dashed box. The yellow background indicates the conserved zinc finger motif (C2H2, C-X4–5-C-X22–23-H-X1-H). The residue of “RKRK”, highlighted in green, is the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of KoWRKY40