Faculty Opinions recommendation of Overexpression of MtCAS31 enhances drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis by reducing stomatal density.

Abstract Drought stress severely limits the growth, development, and productivity of crops, and therefore understanding the mechanisms by which plants respond to drought is crucial. In this study, we cloned a maize NAC transcription factor, ZmNAC49, and identified its function in response to drought stress. We found that ZmNAC49 is localized in the nucleus and has transcriptional activation activity. ZmNAC49 expression is rapidly and strongly induced by drought stress, and overexpression enhances stress tolerance in maize. Overexpression also significant decreases the transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and stomatal density in maize. Detailed study showed that ZmNAC49 overexpression affects the expression of genes related to stomatal development, namely ZmTMM, ZmSDD1, ZmMUTE, and ZmFAMA. In addition, we found that ZmNAC49 can directly bind to the promoter of ZmMUTE and suppress its expression. Taken together, our results show that the transcription factor ZmNAC49 represses ZmMUTE expression, reduces stomatal density, and thereby enhances drought tolerance in maize.

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The Maize Clade A PP2C Phosphatases Play Critical Roles in Multiple Abiotic Stress Responses

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms20143573 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (14) ◽

pp. 3573 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Zhenghua He ◽

Jinfeng Wu ◽

Xiaopeng Sun ◽

Mingqiu Dai

Keyword(s):

Drought Tolerance ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Transgenic Arabidopsis ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Wild Type ◽

Multiple Stresses ◽

Core Components ◽

Leaf Water Loss ◽

Natural Variations

As the core components of abscisic acid (ABA) signal pathway, Clade A PP2C (PP2C-A) phosphatases in ABA-dependent stress responses have been well studied in Arabidopsis. However, the roles and natural variations of maize PP2C-A in stress responses remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the expression patterns of ZmPP2C-As treated with multiple stresses and generated transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing most of the ZmPP2C-A genes. The results showed that the expression of most ZmPP2C-As were dramatically induced by multiple stresses (drought, salt, and ABA), indicating that these genes may have important roles in response to these stresses. Compared with wild-type plants, ZmPP2C-A1, ZmPP2C-A2, and ZmPP2C-A6 overexpression plants had higher germination rates after ABA and NaCl treatments. ZmPP2C-A2 and ZmPP2C-A6 negatively regulated drought responses as the plants overexpressing these genes had lower survival rates, higher leaf water loss rates, and lower proline accumulation compared to wild type plants. The natural variations of ZmPP2C-As associated with drought tolerance were also analyzed and favorable alleles were detected. We widely studied the roles of ZmPP2C-A genes in stress responses and the natural variations detected in these genes have the potential to be used as molecular markers in genetic improvement of maize drought tolerance.

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Characterization of wheat homeodomain-leucine zipper family genes and functional analysis of TaHDZ5-6A in drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis

BMC Plant Biology ◽

10.1186/s12870-020-2252-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Shumin Li ◽

Nan Chen ◽

Fangfang Li ◽

Fangming Mei ◽

Zhongxue Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Analysis ◽

Drought Tolerance ◽

Leucine Zipper ◽

Transgenic Arabidopsis

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HaASR1 gene cloned from a desert shrub, Haloxylon ammodendron, confers drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana

Environmental and Experimental Botany ◽

10.1016/j.envexpbot.2020.104251 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 180 ◽

pp. 104251

Author(s):

Huijuan Gao ◽

Xinpei Lü ◽

Wei Ren ◽

Yunya Sun ◽

Qi Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Drought Tolerance ◽

Transgenic Arabidopsis ◽

Haloxylon Ammodendron ◽

Desert Shrub ◽

Transgenic Arabidopsis Thaliana

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CsCYT75B1, a Citrus CYTOCHROME P450 Gene, Is Involved in Accumulation of Antioxidant Flavonoids and Induces Drought Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis

Antioxidants ◽

10.3390/antiox9020161 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 161 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Muhammad Junaid Rao ◽

Yuantao Xu ◽

Xiaomei Tang ◽

Yue Huang ◽

Jihong Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cytochrome P450 ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Drought Tolerance ◽

Transgenic Arabidopsis ◽

Wild Type ◽

Ros Scavenging ◽

Cytochrome P450 Gene ◽

P450 Gene ◽

Large Gene ◽

Transgenic Lines

CYTOCHROME P450s genes are a large gene family in the plant kingdom. Our earlier transcriptome data revealed that a CYTOCHROME P450 gene of Citrus sinensis (CsCYT75B1) was associated with flavonoid metabolism and was highly induced after drought stress. Here, we characterized the function of CsCYT75B1 in drought tolerance by overexpressing it in Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results demonstrated that the overexpression of the CsCYT75B1 gene significantly enhanced the total flavonoid contents with increased antioxidant activity in transgenic Arabidopsis. The gene expression results showed that several genes that are responsible for the biosynthesis of antioxidant flavonoids were induced by 2–12 fold in transgenic Arabidopsis lines. After 14 days of drought stress, all transgenic lines displayed an enhanced tolerance to drought stress along with accumulating antioxidant flavonoids with lower superoxide radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) than wild type plants. In addition, drought-stressed transgenic lines possessed higher antioxidant enzymatic activities than wild type transgenic lines. Moreover, the stressed transgenic lines had significantly lower levels of electrolytic leakage than wild type transgenic lines. These results demonstrate that the CsCYT75B1 gene of sweet orange functions in the metabolism of antioxidant flavonoid and contributes to drought tolerance by elevating ROS scavenging activities.

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