{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T09:49:15Z","timestamp":1782294555815,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":89,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,20]],"date-time":"2026-06-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781913600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.) is a traditional ornamental plant of high economic and cultural value, but its flower longevity is often limited by petal water loss. Cuticular wax serves as an essential barrier against non-stomatal water loss, and the AP2\/EREBP (APETALA2\/Ethylene-Responsive Element Binding Protein) transcription factor family is known to regulate wax biosynthesis. However, little information is available on the roles of AP2\/EREBP genes in petal cuticle formation in tree peony. In this study, we performed transcriptome sequencing on petals of the tree peony cultivar \u2018Bai Wang Shi Zi\u2019 at three developmental stages (early, middle, and late). Using the assembled transcriptomic data, we identified 29 high-confidence AP2\/EREBP family members, which were phylogenetically classified into AP2, ERF, and DREB subfamilies. Expression profiling revealed that 18 of these genes exhibited stage-specific expression patterns during petal development. Among them, two homologs of Arabidopsis SHN1 (SHINE 1) and WRI3 (WRINKLED 3), designated PsSHN1 and PsWRI3, showed peak expression at the middle stage. By co-expression analysis and phylogenetic comparison, three downstream candidate genes were identified and named PsCER2, PsKAS1, and PsLTPG1, based on their homology with known wax-related genes. Dual-luciferase reporter assays indicated that PsSHN1 and PsWRI3 can activate the promoters of PsCER2, PsKAS1, and PsLTPG1, suggesting a possible cooperative regulation of cuticle formation. Collectively, our findings provide promising candidate genes for prolonging floral lifespan by improving petal cuticular wax accumulation, and lay a preliminary foundation for molecular breeding and quality improvement of tree peony and other ornamental flowers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15121911","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T09:49:55Z","timestamp":1782121795000},"page":"1911","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Transcriptome-Based Identification of AP2\/EREBP Genes Regulating Cuticle Formation in Tree Peony \u2018Bai Wang Shi Zi\u2019"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Xu","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhimin","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Peony Gene Bank, Luoyang Peony Industry Development Center, Luoyang 471002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1286-8192","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Conghao","family":"Hong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Youyi","family":"Zang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9801-5275","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yongjuan","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengxue","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meiyu","family":"Qiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yixin","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Peony Gene Bank, Luoyang Peony Industry Development Center, Luoyang 471002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongbo","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, W., Huang, X., Wang, Y., Zhang, R., Shi, D., Li, T., Zhou, G., and Xue, J. 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