Functional Characterization of the Stipa purpurea P5CS Gene under Drought Stress Conditions

Free proline has multiple functions in plant cells, such as regulating osmotic potential and protecting both proteins and cell membranes. The expression of Δ1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS), a key enzyme in the proline biosynthetic pathway, increases under drought, salt and cold stress conditions, causing plant cells to accumulate large amounts of proline. In this study, we cloned and identified the P5CS gene from Stipa purpurea, which has a full-length of 2196 bp and encodes 731 amino acids. A subcellular localization analysis indicated that SpP5CS localized to the cytoplasm. The ectopic overexpression of SpP5CS in Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in higher proline contents, longer roots, higher survival rates and less membrane damage under drought stress conditions compared with wild-type controls. SpP5CS-overexpressing A. thaliana was more resistant to drought stress than the wild type, whereas the deletion mutant sp5cs was less resistant to drought stress. Thus, SpP5CS may be a potential candidate target gene for increasing plant resistance to drought stress.

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Drought stress - related functional characterization of transcription factor GmNAC085 in soybean

Vietnam Journal of Biotechnology ◽

10.15625/1811-4989/16/4/13062 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 641-648

Author(s):

Tran Thi Khanh Hoa ◽

Huynh Ngoc Tuyet ◽

Nguyen Phuong Thao ◽

Hoang Thi Lan Xuan

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Shoot Growth ◽

Functional Characterization ◽

Water Shortage ◽

Plant Tolerance ◽

Wild Type ◽

Peroxidase Enzyme ◽

Scavenging Enzymes

Studies on soybean GmNAC085 transcription factor revealed that the gene expression in plants was induced by water shortage treatments and its overexpression in the model plant Arabidopsis displayed improved plant tolerance characteristics towards drought stress. In this study, we continued analyzing the biological functions of GmNAC085 using transgenic soybean system overexpressing GmNAC085 gene, by targeting at a number of plant physiological features and biochemical activities in response to limited water growing condition. Compared to the wild-type, the transgenic line demonstrated that it possessed stress tolerance characters, including enhanced elongation of taproot, minimized reduction of shoot growth, lower intracellular H2O2 content and stronger peroxidase enzyme activity under drought condition. The results of this study therefore suggest the transgenic plants had better drought tolerance and the GmNAC085 plays important role in aiding plants to cope with water deficit condition, probably via regulating the growth of roots and shoots, and activities of reactive-oxygen-species- scavenging enzymes.

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Overexpression of AtWRKY30 Transcription Factor Enhances Heat and Drought Stress Tolerance in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes10020163 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 163 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Mohamed A. El-Esawi ◽

Abdullah A. Al-Ghamdi ◽

Hayssam M. Ali ◽

Margaret Ahmad

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Gas Exchange ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Soluble Sugars ◽

Wheat Yield ◽

Triticum Aestivum L ◽

Potential Candidate ◽

Wild Type ◽

Potential Candidate Gene

Drought and heat factors have negative impacts on wheat yield and growth worldwide. Improving wheat tolerance to heat and drought stress is of the utmost importance to maintain crop yield. WRKY transcription factors help improve plant resistance to environmental factors. In this investigation, Arabidopsis WRKY30 (AtWRKY30) transcription factor was cloned and expressed in wheat. Plants growth, biomass, gas-exchange attributes, chlorophyll content, relative water content, prolines content, soluble proteins content, soluble sugars content, and antioxidant enzymes activities (catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX)) of the AtWRKY30-overexpressing wheat plants were higher than those of the wild type. However, levels of electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde, and hydrogen peroxide of the AtWRKY30-overexpressing wheat plants were significantly less than those of the wild-type. Additionally, the expression level of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes and stress-responsive genes (ERF5a, DREB1, DREB3, WRKY19, TIP2, and AQP7) were significantly induced in the transgenic wheat plants in comparison with the wild type. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that AtWRKY30 overexpression promotes heat and drought tolerance in wheat by inducing gas-exchange attributes, antioxidant machinery, osmolytes biosynthesis, and stress-related gene expression. AtWRKY30 could serve as a potential candidate gene for improving stress tolerance in wheat.

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Expression Analysis of Aquaporins from Desert Truffle Mycorrhizal Symbiosis Reveals a Fine-Tuned Regulation Under Drought

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions ◽

10.1094/mpmi-07-12-0178-r ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 26 (9) ◽

pp. 1068-1078 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Alfonso Navarro-Ródenas ◽

Gloria Bárzana ◽

Emilio Nicolás ◽

Andrea Carra ◽

Andrea Schubert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drought Stress ◽

Expression Analysis ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Functional Characterization ◽

Water Channel ◽

Stress Conditions ◽

Mycorrhizal Symbiosis ◽

Desert Truffle ◽

Channel Proteins ◽

Terfezia Claveryi

We have performed the isolation, functional characterization, and expression analysis of aquaporins in roots and leaves of Helianthemum almeriense, in order to evaluate their roles in tolerance to water deficit. Five cDNAs, named HaPIP1;1, HaPIP1;2, HaPIP2;1, HaPIP2;2, and HaTIP1;1, were isolated from H. almeriense. A phylogenetic analysis of deduced proteins confirmed that they belong to the water channel proteins family. The HaPIP1;1, HaPIP2;1, and HaTIP1;1 genes encode functional water channel proteins, as indicated by expression assays in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, showing divergent roles in the transport of water, CO2, and NH3. The expression patterns of the genes isolated from H. almeriense and of a previously described gene from Terfezia claveryi (TcAQP1) were analyzed in mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants cultivated under well-watered or drought-stress conditions. Some of the studied aquaporins were subjected to fine-tuned expression only under drought-stress conditions. A beneficial effect on plant physiological parameters was observed in mycorrhizal plants with respect to nonmycorrhizal ones. Moreover, stress induced a change in the mycorrhizal type formed, which was more intracellular under drought stress. The combination of a high intracellular colonization, together with the fine-tuned expression of aquaporins could result in a morphophysiological adaptation of this symbiosis to drought conditions.

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Overexpression of soybean DREB1 enhances drought stress tolerance of transgenic wheat in the field

Journal of Experimental Botany ◽

10.1093/jxb/erz569 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 71 (6) ◽

pp. 1842-1857 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Yongbin Zhou ◽

Ming Chen ◽

Jinkao Guo ◽

Yanxia Wang ◽

Donghong Min ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drought Stress ◽

Transgenic Plants ◽

Drought Tolerance ◽

Biosynthetic Pathway ◽

Membrane Damage ◽

Transgenic Wheat ◽

Plant Tolerance ◽

Wild Type ◽

Wheat Varieties ◽

External Application

Abstract Drought-response-element binding (DREB)-like transcription factors can significantly enhance plant tolerance to water stress. However, most research on DREB-like proteins to date has been conducted in growth chambers or greenhouses, so there is very little evidence available to support their practical use in the field. In this study, we overexpressed GmDREB1 from soybean in two popular wheat varieties and conducted drought-tolerance experiments across a range of years, sites, and drought-stress regimes. We found that the transgenic plants consistently exhibited significant improvements in yield performance and a variety of physiological traits compared with wild-type plants when grown under limited water conditions in the field, for example showing grain yield increases between 4.79–18.43%. Specifically, we found that the transgenic plants had reduced membrane damage and enhanced osmotic adjustment and photosynthetic efficiency compared to the non-transgenic controls. Three enzymes from the biosynthetic pathway of the phytohormone melatonin were up-regulated in the transgenic plants, and external application of melatonin was found to improve drought tolerance. Together, our results demonstrate the utility of transgenic overexpression of GmDREB1 to improve the drought tolerance of wheat in the field.

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Enhanced tolerance to drought stress resulting from Caragana korshinskii CkWRKY33 in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana

BMC Genomic Data ◽

10.1186/s12863-021-00965-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Zhen Li ◽

Fengping Liang ◽

Tianbao Zhang ◽

Na Fu ◽

Xinwu Pei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Soluble Sugar ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Wrky Transcription Factor ◽

Wild Type ◽

Sequence Structure ◽

Caragana Korshinskii ◽

Group I

Abstract Background It is well known that WRKY transcription factors play important roles in plant growth and development, defense regulation and stress responses. Results In this study, a WRKY transcription factor, WRKY33, was cloned from Caragana korshinskii. A sequence structure analysis showed that it belonged to the Group-I type. Subcellular localization experiments in tobacco epidermal cells showed the presence of CkWRKY33 in the nucleus. Additionally, CkWRKY33 was overexpressed in Arabidopsis thaliana. A phenotypic investigation revealed that compared with wild-type plants, CkWRKY33-overexpressing transgenic plants had higher survival rates, as well as relative soluble sugar, proline and peroxidase contents, but lower malondialdehyde contents, following a drought stress treatment. Conclusions This suggested that the overexpression of CkWRKY33 led to an enhanced drought-stress tolerance in transgenic A. thaliana. Thus, CkWRKY33 may act as a positive regulator involved in the drought-stress responses in Caragana korshinskii.

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