{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T01:23:58Z","timestamp":1792718638232,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787875200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Genet."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Cold stress is a major abiotic threat to apple production.\n                      <jats:italic>Malus baccata<\/jats:italic>\n                      has exceptional cold hardiness and is widely used as a superior cold-resistant rootstock. The WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) transcription factor family regulates plant growth, development and stress adaptation, whereas the functions of WOX genes in cold tolerance of\n                      <jats:italic>M. baccata<\/jats:italic>\n                      remain elusive.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In the present work, 19 MbWOX family members were identified and characterized at the genome-wide level. Evolutionary analysis, cis-element prediction, transcriptome profiling and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) were performed to screen core cold-responsive genes. Overexpression vectors were constructed and transformed into Arabidopsis seedlings for functional verification.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Evolutionary analysis revealed that segmental duplication drove the expansion of the MbWOX family, and these genes contained a variety of stress-responsive cis-elements. Combined transcriptome and RT-qPCR analyses confirmed that\n                      <jats:italic>MbWOX4<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>MbWOX13<\/jats:italic>\n                      were core cold-responsive genes with distinct expression patterns. The two genes participated in cold signal transduction by interacting with different transcription factor networks. Functional tests revealed that\n                      <jats:italic>MbWOX4<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>MbWOX13<\/jats:italic>\n                      isoforms differentially modulated seedling cold tolerance under low-temperature stress.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fgene.2026.1920502","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T22:10:09Z","timestamp":1787868609000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Genome-wide identification of WOX transcription factors and functional characterization of WOX4 and WOX13 involved in cold stress response in Malus baccata"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yanting","family":"Tian","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Research Institute of Forestry and Pomology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Tianjin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hao","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Research Institute of Forestry and Pomology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Tianjin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Research Institute of Forestry and Pomology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Tianjin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lifang","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Research Institute of Forestry and Pomology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Tianjin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuhong","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shijiazhuang Landscape Management and Maintenance Center","place":["Shijiazhuang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huanyong","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Research Institute of Forestry and Pomology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Tianjin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Qi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Research Institute of Forestry and Pomology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Tianjin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Economic Forestry, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Academy of Forestry Sciences","place":["Urumqi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"867","DOI":"10.1016\/j.devcel.2008.03.008","article-title":"Differential expression of WOX genes mediates apical-basal axis formation in the Arabidopsis embryo","volume":"14","author":"Breuninger","year":"2008","journal-title":"Dev. 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