3个芹菜品种Agnp-G3PDH基因的克隆及其序列和表达特性分析

从芹菜(Apium graveolens Linn.)品种‘六合黄心芹’(‘Liuhe Huangxinqin’)、‘津南实芹’(‘Jinnan Shiqin’)和‘文图拉’(‘Ventura’)中分别克隆获得非磷酸化甘油醛-3-磷酸脱氢酶基因Agnp-G3PDH。3个品种的AgnpG3PDH基因序列均包含1个全长1 491 bp的开放阅读框(ORF),编码496个氨基酸;存在84个碱基位点差异,导致14个氨基酸位点改变。由该基因编码的‘六合黄心芹’、‘津南实芹’和‘文图拉’的Agnp-G3PDH蛋白的理论相对分子质量分别为53 201.6、53 051.4和52 960.3,理论等电点分别为pI 7.49、pI 7.86和pI 8.12,氨基酸组成中碱性氨基酸数量大于酸性氨基酸数量;该蛋白质具有亲水性与疏水性双重特性,均为疏水性蛋白。多重比对结果表明:3个品种Agnp-G3PDH基因编码的氨基酸序列同源性达到99.09%,具有高度保守性;且与其他11种植物npG3PDH的氨基酸序列的相似度也较高。在基于np-G3PDH基因编码的氨基酸序列进化树上,3个芹菜品种聚在同一分支中,并与杨柳科(Salicaceae)种类毛果杨(Populus trichocarpa Torr.&Gray)聚在一起,表明它们的np-G3PDH进化关系较近。实时定量PCR分析结果表明:在3个芹菜品种的不同组织中Agnp-G3PDH基因的相对表达水平均有明显差异,其中,在‘津南实芹’的叶、‘文图拉’的花和‘六合黄心芹’的根中该基因的相对表达水平最高;经高温(38℃)、低温(4℃)和干旱(20%PEG)胁迫处理后3个品种Agnp-G3PDH基因的相对表达水平均极显著高于或低于对照,但经盐(0.2 mol·L-1NaCl)胁迫处理后仅品种‘津南实芹’Agnp-G3PDH基因的相对表达水平显著高于对照,品种‘六合黄心芹’和‘文图拉’Agnp-G3PDH基因的相对表达水平与对照无显著差异。表明该基因的表达具有组织特异性且与品种间的抗逆性差异有关。     

Transgenic tobacco plants expressing grass <Emphasis Type="Italic">AstEXPA1</Emphasis> gene show improved performance to several stresses

Expansins are cell wall-loosening proteins and now widely accepted to associate with the plant resistance against various abiotic stresses. In this study, we cloned an expansin gene of AstEXPA1 from Agrostis stolonifera, a heat-resistant creeping bentgrass cultivar, and transformed it into tobacco plants. Physiological index test showed that the transgenic lines were resistant to various abiotic stresses of drought, heat, cold, and salt in comparison to non-transgenic plants. Comprehensive analysis of four physiological response indices showed that the transgenic plants performed much better resistance to drought, following to heat, cold and salt stress, respectively. Meanwhile soluble sugar content displayed more weight to plant resistance by over-expressing AstEXPA1 gene, followed as proline content, REL, and MDA content. The results here would expand our understanding of the expansin roles and drive better insights into plant molecular breeding against stress.     

Ectopic Expression of Plant RNA Chaperone Offering Multiple Stress Tolerance in <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis>

Members of the plant glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins (GR-RBPs) family have been reported in flowering, development, circadian rhythms, biotic and abiotic stresses. Particularly, GR-RBPs are reported to function as RNA chaperones, promoting growth and acclimation during cold shock. It is indispensable to further question the efficacy and mechanism of GR-RBPs under various environmental strains. Monitoring the expression of stress-regulated proteins under stress conditions has been a beneficial strategy to study their functional roles. In an effort to elucidate the NtGR-RBP1 function, stress markers such as salinity, drought, low temperature and heat stresses were studied. The NtGR-RBP1 gene was expressed in E. coli followed by the exposure to stress conditions. Recombinant E. coli expressing NtGR-RBP1 were more tolerant to stresses, e.g., salinity, drought, cold and heat shock. Recombinants exhibited higher growth rates compared to control in spot assays. The tolerance was further confirmed by monitoring the growth in liquid culture assays. Cells expressing NtGR-RBP1 under salt (500 mM NaCl), drought (20% PEG), cold (4 and 20 °C) and heat stresses (50 °C) had enhanced growing ability and better endurance. Our study supports the notion that the protective role of NtGR-RBP1 may contribute to growth and survival during diverse environmental stresses.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">MsZEP</Emphasis>, a novel zeaxanthin epoxidase gene from alfalfa (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Medicago sativa</Emphasis>), confers drought and salt tolerance in transgenic tobacco

Key message

The zeaxanthin epoxidase gene ( MsZEP ) was cloned and characterized from alfalfa and validated for its function of tolerance toward drought and salt stresses by heterologous expression in Nicotiana tabacum.

Abstract

Zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) plays important roles in plant response to various environment stresses due to its functions in ABA biosynthetic and the xanthophyll cycle. To understand the expression characteristics and the biological functions of ZEP in alfalfa (Medicago sativa), a novel gene, designated as MsZEP (KM044311), was cloned, characterized and overexpressed in Nicotiana tabacum. The open reading frame of MsZEP contains 1992 bp nucleotides and encodes a 663-amino acid polypeptide. Amino acid sequence alignment indicated that deduced MsZEP protein was highly homologous to other plant ZEP sequences. Phylogenetic analysis showed that MsZEP was grouped into a branch with other legume plants. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that MsZEP gene expression was clearly tissue-specific, and the expression levels were higher in green tissues (leaves and stems) than in roots. MsZEP expression decreased in shoots under drought, cold, heat and ABA treatment, while the expression levels in roots showed different trends. Besides, the results showed that nodules could up-regulate the MsZEP expression under non-stressful conditions and in the earlier stage of different abiotic stress. Heterologous expression of the MsZEP gene in N. tabacum could confer tolerance to drought and salt stress by affecting various physiological pathways, ABA levels and stress-responsive genes expression. Taken together, these results suggested that the MsZEP gene may be involved in alfalfa responses to different abiotic stresses and nodules, and could enhance drought and salt tolerance of transgenic tobacco by heterologous expression.

     

Overexpression of soybean <Emphasis Type="Italic">GmERF9</Emphasis> enhances the tolerance to drought and cold in the transgenic tobacco

Ethylene response factors (ERFs) are widespread in plants, which are widely involved in plant response to biotic and abiotic stress. In this research, a soybean gene, GmERF9, was identified and the function was characterized. The results showed that GmERF9 contained a typical AP2/ERF binding domain and a putative nuclear localization signal sequence. The real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) revealed that the expression of GmERF9 could be induced by ethylene (ET), abscisic acid (ABA), drought, salt and cold stresses. GmERF9 protein could specifically bind to the GCC-box and activate the expression of the reporter gene in the yeast cells and tobacco leaves. Overexpression of GmERF9 enhanced the expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, including PR1, PR2, Osmotin (PR5), and SAR8.2. Also, the overexpression of GmERF9 increased the accumulation of proline and soluble carbohydrate, and decreased the accumulation of malondialdehyde under drought and cold stresses in the transgenic tobacco compared to the wild type (WT) tobacco, which indicated that GmERF9 enhanced the tolerance to drought and cold stresses in the transgenic tobacco. In summary, the function of GmERF9 is involved in the response to environmental stresses for plants, which can be used as a candidate gene for genetic engineering of crops.     

MdVHP1 encodes an apple vacuolar H(+)-PPase and enhances stress tolerance in transgenic apple callus and tomato

Vacuolar H⁺-translocating inorganic pyrophosphatase (VHP, EC 3.6.1.1) is an electrogenic proton pump, which is related to growth as well as abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this study, a VHP gene MdVHP1 was isolated from apple. The alignment of nucleotide and amino acid sequences showed that it encoded a type I VHP protein. It expressed in vegetative and reproductive organs, and its expression was induced by salt, PEG-mediated osmotic stress, cold and heat in apple in vitro shoot cultures. MdVHP1 expression showed a similar pattern in different apple tissues, but different change dynamics in response to abiotic stresses, compared with MdVHP2 (another MdVHP gene in apple). MdVHP1 overexpression enhanced tolerance to salt, PEG-mimic drought, cold and heat in transgenic apple calluses, which was related to an increased accumulation of proline and decreased MDA content compared with control calluses. In addition, MdVHP1 overexpression confers improved tolerance to salt and drought in transgenic tomato, along with an increased ion accumulation, high RWC and low solute potential compared with wild type. These results indicate that MdVHP1 is an important regulator for plant tolerance to abiotic stresses by modulating internal stores of ions and solutes.