| Summary: | Zinc-finger proteins are important transcription factors in plants, responding to adversity and regulating the growth and development of plants. However, the roles of the <i>BBX</i> gene family of zinc-finger proteins in wintersweet (<i>Chimonanthus praecox</i>) have yet to be elucidated. In this study, a group IV subfamily <i>BBX</i> gene, <i>CpBBX19</i>, was identified and isolated from wintersweet. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses revealed that <i>CpBBX19</i> was expressed in all tissues and that expression was highest in cotyledons and inner petals. <i>CpBBX19</i> was also expressed in all flower development stages, with the highest expression detected in early initiating bloom, followed by late initiating bloom and bloom. In addition, the expression of <i>CpBBX19</i> was induced by different abiotic stress (cold, heat, NaCl, and drought) and hormone (ABA and MeJA) treatments. Heterologous expression of <i>CpBBX19</i> in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> (<i>Arabidopsis</i>) enhanced the tolerance of this plant to salt and drought stress as electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in transgenic <i>Arabidopsis</i> after stress treatments were significantly lower than those in wild-type (WT) plants. In conclusion, this research demonstrated that <i>CpBBX19</i> plays a role in the abiotic stress tolerance of wintersweet. These findings lay a foundation for future studies on the <i>BBX</i> gene family of wintersweet and enrich understanding of the molecular mechanism of stress resistance in wintersweet.
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