a, Comparison of MDA levels between the control (CK) and heat treatment (H) groups of pearl millet (Tifleaf3). The error bars indicate the mean ± s.d.; n = 3 biological replicates. Significant differences were tested by two-tailed t-test (**P < 0.01, ***P < 0.0005; NS, not significant). b, Proportion of RWP-RK transcription factor family members among all the genes in the 11 pearl millet genomes and ten other genomes. Ath, Arabidopsis thaliana; Bdi, Brachypodium distachyon; Can, Capsicum annuum; Dex, Digitaria exilis; Dol, Dichanthelium oligosanthes; Eco, Eleusine coracana; Hvu, Hordeum vulgare; Mes, Manihot esculenta; Osa, O. sativa; Oth, Oropetium thomaeum; Pgl, P. glaucum (pearl millet); Pha, Panicum hallii; Pmi, Panicum miliaceum; Sbi, Sorghum bicolor; Sit, Setaria italica; Sof, Saccharum officinarum; Svi, Setaria viridis; Zma, Z. mays. c, Comparisons of RWP-RK gene numbers overlapping with intact LTR TEs among pearl millet, rice, sorghum and maize. Significant differences were tested by one-tailed binomial test (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.0005). d, Estimated insertion times of LTR TEs encompassing the RWP-RK genes shown in c. The center line represents the median; the box limits represent the upper and lower quartiles; the whiskers represent 1.5 times the IQR; the dots represent the outliers. e, Phenotypes of two transgenic lines and a control (WT) after 72 h of heat treatment. f, POD and SOD activity after 12 h of heat treatment and MDA content after 72 h of heat treatment in transgenic lines and WT plants. The error bars represent the mean ± s.d.; n = 3 biological replicates. Significant differences were tested using a two-tailed t-test (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.0005). g, Dual luciferase assays (firefly luciferase to Renilla luciferase ratio) were applied to verify that PMF0G00024.1 (RWP) could transactivate PMA2G00541.1 (541) and PMA6G02031.1 (2031). The error bars represent the mean ± s.d.; n = 3 biological replicates. Significant differences were tested using a two-tailed t-test and are shown as P values.