<i>SpWRKY71</i> is required for drought tolerance in tomato

ABSTRACT Drought has a profound impact on the growth, development and quality yield of crops. It has been demonstrated that WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play an important role in abiotic stress responses. Previously, numerous studies have documented the functional role of these TFs in a range of plant species. In this study, the SpWRKY71 gene from the wild tomato specie, Solanum. pennellii, was identified and its role in drought stress tolerance was investigated. Subcellular localisation showed that SpWRKY71 is predominantly nuclear in localisation and exhibited elevated transcript levels following PEG6000 and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. Furthermore, we employed virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) technology to examine the function of SpWRKY71 in tomato under stress conditions. The plants in which SpWRKY71 had been silenced demonstrated a high sensitivity to drought conditions, exhibiting accelerated and more severe stem and leaf wilting compared to the control plants. The results indicated that SpWRKY71 silencing resulted in a significant exacerbation of drought‐induced oxidative damage, as evidenced by an increase in the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), superoxide anion (O₂ – ) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduction in the antioxidant enzyme activities and stress‐related genes compared to the control. These results indicate that SpWRKY71 plays a significant role in the mechanism of drought stress tolerance in tomato, thereby providing theoretical foundation for the study of the SpWRKY71‐ mediated drought tolerance in plants.