Ectopic expression of phloem motor protein pea forisome PsSEO-F1 enhances salinity stress tolerance in tobacco

Key message

PsSEOF-1 binds to calcium and its expression is upregulated by salinity treatment. PsSEOF - 1 -overexpressing transgenic tobacco showed enhanced salinity stress tolerance by maintaining cellular ion homeostasis and modulating ROS-scavenging pathway.

Abstract

Calcium (Ca²⁺) plays important role in growth, development and stress tolerance in plants. Cellular Ca²⁺ homeostasis is achieved by the collective action of channels, pumps, antiporters and by Ca²⁺ chelators present in the cell like calcium-binding proteins. Forisomes are ATP-independent mechanically active motor proteins known to function in wound sealing of injured sieve elements of phloem tissue. The Ca²⁺-binding activity of forisome and its role in abiotic stress signaling were largely unknown. Here we report the Ca²⁺-binding activity of pea forisome (PsSEO-F1) and its novel function in promoting salinity tolerance in transgenic tobacco. Native PsSEO-F1 promoter positively responded in salinity stress as confirmed using GUS reporter. Overexpression of PsSEO-F1 tobacco plants confers salinity tolerance by alleviating ionic toxicity and increased ROS scavenging activity which probably results in reduced membrane damage and improved yield under salinity stress. Evaluation of several physiological indices shows an increase in relative water content, electrolyte leakage, proline accumulation and chlorophyll content in transgenic lines as compared with null-segregant control. Expression of several genes involved in cellular homeostasis is perturbed by PsSEO-F1 overexpression. These findings suggest that PsSEO-F1 provides salinity tolerance through cellular Ca²⁺ homeostasis which in turn modulates ROS machinery providing indirect link between Ca²⁺ and ROS signaling under salinity-induced perturbation. PsSEO-F1 most likely functions in salinity stress tolerance by improving antioxidant machinery and mitigating ion toxicity in transgenic lines. This finding should make an important contribution in our better understanding of the significance of calcium signaling in phloem tissue leading to salinity stress tolerance.