Overproduction of the Membrane-bound Receptor-like Protein Kinase 1, RPK1, Enhances Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis

RPK1 (receptor-like protein kinase 1) localizes to the plasma membrane and functions as a regulator of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling in Arabidopsis. In our current study, we investigated the effect of RPK1 disruption and overproduction upon plant responses to drought stress. Transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing the RPK1 protein showed increased ABA sensitivity in their root growth and stomatal closure and also displayed less transpirational water loss. In contrast, a mutant lacking RPK1 function, rpk1-1, was found to be resistant to ABA during these processes and showed increased water loss. RPK1 overproduction in these transgenic plants thus increased their tolerance to drought stress. We performed microarray analysis of RPK1 transgenic plants and observed enhanced expression of several stress-responsive genes, such as Cor15a, Cor15b, and rd29A, in addition to H₂O₂-responsive genes. Consistently, the expression levels of ABA/stress-responsive genes in rpk1-1 had decreased compared with wild type. The results suggest that the overproduction of RPK1 enhances both the ABA and drought stress signaling pathways. Furthermore, the leaves of the rpk1-1 plants exhibit higher sensitivity to oxidative stress upon ABA-pretreatment, whereas transgenic plants overproducing RPK1 manifest increased tolerance to this stress. Our current data suggest therefore that RPK1 overproduction controls reactive oxygen species homeostasis and enhances both water and oxidative stress tolerance in Arabidopsis.     

Activation of gibberellin 20-oxidase 2 undermines auxin-dependent root and root hair growth in NaCl-stressed <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis</Emphasis> seedlings

Although salt stress mainly disturbs plant root growth by affecting the biosynthesis and signaling of phytohormones, such as gibberellin (GA) and auxin, the exact mechanisms of the crosstalk between these two hormones remain to be clarified. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is a biologically active auxin molecule. In this study, we investigated the role of Arabidopsis GA20-oxidase 2 (GA20ox2), a final rate-limiting enzyme of active GA biosynthesis, in IAA-directed root growth under NaCl stress. Under the NaCl treatment, seedlings of a loss-of-function ga20ox2-1 mutant exhibited primary root and root hair elongation, altered GA₄ accumulation, and decreased root Na⁺ contents compared with the wild-type, transgenic GA20ox2-complementing, and GA20ox2-overexpression plant lines. Concurrently, ga20ox2-1 alleviated the tissue-specific inhibition of NaCl on IAA generation by YUCCAs, IAA transport by PIN1 and PIN2, and IAA accumulation in roots, thereby explaining how NaCl increased GA20ox2 expression in shoots but disrupted primary root and root hair growth in wild-type seedlings. In addition, a loss-of-function pin2 mutant impeded GA20ox2 expression, indicating that GA20ox2 function requires PIN2 activity. Thus, the activation of GA20ox2 retards IAA-directed primary root and root hair growth in response to NaCl stress.     

ABA-Mediated ROS in Mitochondria Regulate Root Meristem Activity by Controlling PLETHORA Expression in Arabidopsis

Although research has determined that reactive oxygen species (ROS) function as signaling molecules in plant development, the molecular mechanism by which ROS regulate plant growth is not well known. An aba overly sensitive mutant, abo8-1, which is defective in a pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein responsible for the splicing of NAD4 intron 3 in mitochondrial complex I, accumulates more ROS in root tips than the wild type, and the ROS accumulation is further enhanced by ABA treatment. The ABO8 mutation reduces root meristem activity, which can be enhanced by ABA treatment and reversibly recovered by addition of certain concentrations of the reducing agent GSH. As indicated by low ProDR5:GUS expression, auxin accumulation/signaling was reduced in abo8-1. We also found that ABA inhibits the expression of PLETHORA1 (PLT1) and PLT2, and that root growth is more sensitive to ABA in the plt1 and plt2 mutants than in the wild type. The expression of PLT1 and PLT2 is significantly reduced in the abo8-1 mutant. Overexpression of PLT2 in an inducible system can largely rescue root apical meristem (RAM)-defective phenotype of abo8-1 with and without ABA treatment. These results suggest that ABA-promoted ROS in the mitochondria of root tips are important retrograde signals that regulate root meristem activity by controlling auxin accumulation/signaling and PLT expression in Arabidopsis.     

拟南芥ABA敏感突变体asm1的分离与鉴定

以拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)为研究材料,从T-DNA突变体库中筛选分离得到1株脱落酸(ABA)敏感突变体asm1(ABA sensitive mutant 1,asm1),在含有ABA的培养基中,与野生型相比,asm1突变体的根伸长明显受到抑制,且其种子萌发结果显示asm1对ABA同样表现出敏感特性。在生长发育方面,asm1突变体抽苔时间提前,植株矮化,并且荚果长度明显小于野生型。利用远红外成像系统分析发现,在干旱胁迫下asm1突变体叶面温度高于野生型;失水率分析显示突变体失水率降低以及水分散失减少。遗传学分析表明,asm1是单基因隐性突变且与一个T-DNA插入共分离;通过图位克隆成功获得候选基因ASM1。RT-PCR结果显示,在突变体中ASM1的表达受到抑制,并且能够调控多种ABA信号通路和胁迫应答基因的表达水平。研究结果表明,ASM1可能参与调控ABA信号转导并应答干旱胁迫。     

GhMPK17, a Cotton Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase,Is Involved in Plant Response to High Salinity and Osmotic Stresses and ABA Signaling

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades play pivotal roles in mediating biotic and abiotic stress responses. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is the most important textile crop in the world, and often encounters abiotic stress during its growth seasons. In this study, a gene encoding a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was isolated from cotton, and designated as GhMPK17. The open reading frame (ORF) of GhMPK17 gene is 1494 bp in length and encodes a protein with 497 amino acids. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis indicated that GhMPK17 expression was up-regulated in cotton under NaCl, mannitol and ABA treatments. The transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing GhMPK17 gene showed higher seed germination, root elongation and cotyledon greening/expansion rates than those of the wild type on MS medium containing NaCl, mannitol and exogenous ABA, suggesting that overexpression of GhMPK17 in Arabidopsis increased plant ABA-insensitivity, and enhanced plant tolerance to salt and osmotic stresses. Furthermore, overexpression of GhMPK17 in Arabidopsis reduced H₂O₂ level and altered expression of ABA- and abiotic stress-related genes in the transgenic plants. Collectively, these data suggested that GhMPK17 gene may be involved in plant response to high salinity and osmotic stresses and ABA signaling.     

转CkLEA4基因拟南芥种子萌发期的抗逆性分析

该研究在实验室前期研究的基础上,将受脱水、盐胁迫和ABA诱导的柠条锦鸡儿CkLEA4基因转入野生型拟南芥,并利用实时荧光定量PCR从8株纯合体中筛选出3个表达量不同的株系,比较野生型和转CkLEA4基因过表达拟南芥种子在不同胁迫处理下的萌发率,以探讨CkLEA4基因在植物抵抗逆境胁迫中的功能。结果发现:(1)在不同浓度NaCl、甘露醇及ABA处理下,转CkLEA4基因过表达拟南芥种子的萌发率均高于野生型,随着NaCl、甘露醇及ABA浓度增加,各株系萌发率均降低,但野生型的萌发率下降幅度均高于3个过表达株系,并且在200mmol/L NaCl和400mmol/L甘露醇处理下,过表达株系子叶绿化率均显著高于野生型。(2)在低浓度ABA处理下,CkLEA4过表达植株子叶的绿化率也高于野生型。研究表明,柠条锦鸡儿CkLEA4基因提高了拟南芥种子萌发阶段对盐、ABA及渗透胁迫的耐受性。     

Arabidopsis C3HC4‐RING finger E3 ubiquitin ligase AtAIRP4 positively regulates stress‐responsive abscisic acid signaling

Degradation of proteins via the ubiquitin system is an important step in many stress signaling pathways in plants. E3 ligases recognize ligand proteins and dictate the high specificity of protein degradation, and thus, play a pivotal role in ubiquitination. Here, we identified a gene, named Arabidopsis thaliana abscisic acid (ABA)‐insensitive RING protein 4 (AtAIRP4), which is induced by ABA and other stress treatments. AtAIRP4 encodes a cellular protein with a C3HC4‐RING finger domain in its C‐terminal side, which has in vitro E3 ligase activity. Loss of AtAIRP4 leads to a decrease in sensitivity of root elongation and stomatal closure to ABA, whereas overexpression of this gene in the T‐DNA insertion mutant atairp4 effectively recovered the ABA‐associated phenotypes. AtAIRP4 overexpression plants were hypersensitive to salt and osmotic stresses during seed germination, and showed drought avoidance compared with the wild‐type and atairp4 mutant plants. In addition, the expression levels of ABA‐ and drought‐induced marker genes in AtAIRP4 overexpression plants were markedly higher than those in the wild‐type and atairp4 mutant plants. Hence, these results indicate that AtAIRP4 may act as a positive regulator of ABA‐mediated drought avoidance and a negative regulator of salt tolerance in Arabidopsis.     

The CCCH zinc finger protein gene AtZFP1 improves salt resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana

The CCCH type zinc finger proteins are a super family involved in many aspects of plant growth and development. In this study, we investigated the response of one CCCH type zinc finger protein AtZFP1 (At2g25900) to salt stress in Arabidopsis. The expression of AtZFP1 was upregulated by salt stress. Compared to transgenic strains, the germination rate, emerging rate of cotyledons and root length of wild plants were significantly lower under NaCl treatments, while the inhibitory effect was significantly severe in T-DNA insertion mutant strains. At germination stage, it was mainly osmotic stress when treated with NaCl. Relative to wild plants, overexpression strains maintained a higher K⁺, K⁺/Na⁺, chlorophyll and proline content, and lower Na⁺ and MDA content. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that the expression of stress related marker genes KIN1, RD29B and RD22 increased more significantly in transgenic strains by salt stress. Overexpression of AtZFP1 also enhanced oxidative and osmotic stress tolerance which was determined by measuring the expression of a set of antioxidant genes, osmotic stress genes and ion transport protein genes such as SOS1, AtP5CS1 and AtGSTU5. Overall, our results suggest that overexpression of AtZFP1 enhanced salt tolerance by maintaining ionic balance and limiting oxidative and osmotic stress.     

The soybean root‐specific protein kinase GmWNK1 regulates stress‐responsive ABA signaling on the root system architecture

In humans, members of the WNK protein kinase family are osmosensitive regulators of cell volume homeostasis and epithelial ion transport, and mutation of these proteins causes a rare inherited form of hypertension due to increased renal NaCl re‐absorption. A related class of kinases was recently discovered in plants, but their functions are largely unknown. We have identified a root‐specific WNK kinase homolog, GmWNK1, in soybean (Glycine max). GmWNK1 expression was detected in the root, specifically in root cells associated with lateral root formation, and was down‐regulated by abscisic acid (ABA), as well as by mannitol, sucrose, polyethylene glycol and NaCl. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that GmWNK1 interacts with another soybean protein, GmCYP707A1, which is a key ABA 8′‐hydroxylase that functions in ABA catabolism. Furthermore, 35S‐GmWNK1 transgenic soybean plants had reduced lateral root number and length compared with wild‐type, suggesting a role of GmWNK1 in the regulation of root system architecture. We propose that GmWNK1 functions to fine‐tune ABA‐dependent ABA homeostasis, thereby mediating the regulation of the root system architecture by ABA and osmotic signals. The study has revealed a new function of a plant WNK1 gene from the important staple crop soybean, and has identified a new component of a regulatory pathway that is involved not only in ABA signaling, but also in the repression of lateral root formation by an ABA‐dependent mechanism distinct from known ABA signaling pathways.     

A Lily ASR protein involves abscisic acid signaling and confers drought and salt resistance in Arabidopsis

LLA23, an abscisic acid-, stress-, and ripening-induced protein, was previously isolated from lily (Lilium longiflorum) pollen. The expression of LLA23 is induced under the application of abscisic acid (ABA), NaCl, or dehydration. To provide evidence on the biological role of LLA23 proteins against drought, we used an overexpression approach in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Constitutive overexpression of LLA23 under the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter confers reduced sensitivity to ABA in Arabidopsis seeds and, consequently, a reduced degree of seed dormancy. Transgenic 35SLLA23 seeds are able to germinate under unfavorable conditions, such as inhibitory concentrations of mannitol and NaCl. At the molecular level, altered expression of ABA/stress-regulated genes was observed. Thus, our results provide strong in vivo evidence that LLA23 mediates stress-responsive ABA signaling. In vegetative tissues, it is intriguing that Arabidopsis 35SLLA23 stomata remain opened upon drought, while transgenic plants have a decreased rate of water loss and exhibit enhanced drought and salt resistance. A dual function of the lily abscisic acid-, stress-, and ripening-induced protein molecule is discussed.