Abstract
Background: Earlier, fifteen transcription factors in the CAMTA family of soybean were reported to differentially express in multiple stresses however, their functional analyses had not yet been attempted. To characterize their role in drought stress, we comprehensively analyzed GmCAMTA family in silico and determined their expression pattern after which we cloned and overexpressed the 2769 bp CDS of GmCAMTA12 in Arabidopsis and soybean and carried out drought assays.
Results: The bioinformatics analysis revealed multiple stress-related cis motifs including ABRE, SARE, G-box and W-box, 10 unique miRNA targets in GmCAMTA transcripts and 48 proteins in GmCAMTAs’ interaction network. The stably transformed homozygous lines of Arabidopsis overexpressing GmCAMTA12 exhibited enhanced tolerance to drought in soil as well as on MS media containing mannitol. In their drought assay, the average survival rate of transgenic Arabidopsis lines OE5 and OE12 (Overexpression Line 5 and Line 12) was 83.66% and 87.87% respectively, which was ~30% higher than that of wt. In addition, the germination and root length assays as well as physiological indexes such as proline and MDA contents, CAT activity and leakage of electrolytes affirmed the better performance of OE lines. Likewise, GmCAMTA12 overexpression in soybean promoted more developed hairy roots in OE chimeric plants as compare to that of VC (Vector control). In parallel, the improved growth performance of OE in Hoagland-PEG and on MS-mannitol was revealed by their phenotypic, physiological and molecular measures. Furthermore, with the overexpression of GmCAMTA12, the downstream genes including AtAnnexin5, AtCaMHSP, At2G433110 and AtWRKY14 were upregulated in Arabidopsis. Likewise, in soybean hairy roots, GmELO, GmNAB and GmPLA1-IId were significantly upregulated as a result of GmCAMTA12 overexpression and majority of these upregulated genes in both plants possess CAMTA binding CGCG/CGTG motif in their promoters.
Conclusions: Taken together, we report that GmCAMTA12 plays substantial role in tolerance of soybean against drought stress and could prove as a novel candidate for engineering of soybean and other plants against drought stress. Some research gaps were also identified for future studies to extend our comprehension of Ca-CaM-CAMTA-mediated stress regulatory mechanisms.