Heterologous expression of Arabidopsis thaliana rty gene in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) improves drought tolerance

BMC Plant Biology

Maofu Li¹  Hong Zhang¹  Wanmei Jin¹  Hua Wang¹  Jiashen Liu¹  Shanshan Yin¹  Chuanfei Zhong²  Yuntao Zhang²  Jing Dong²  Guixia Wang²  Yuan Yang²  Ali Raza³ 

[1] Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, 100093, Beijing, P. R. China;Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (North China), Ministry of Agriculture, 100093, Beijing, P. R. China;Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, 100093, Beijing, P. R. China;Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (North China), Ministry of Agriculture, 100093, Beijing, P. R. China;Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, 100093, Beijing, P. R. China;Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), 430062, Wuhan, P. R. China;

关键词: ABA;    Arabidopsis thaliana;    Drought stress;    Heterologous expression;    Stomatal closure;    Strawberry;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-021-02839-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundStrawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is an important fruit crop worldwide. It was particularly sensitive to drought stress because of their fibrous and shallow root systems. Mutant rty of Arabidopsis thaliana ROOTY (RTY) results in increased endogenous auxin levels, more roots, and shoot growth. It is still unclear whether the rty gene improves stress tolerance in strawberry.Resultsrty gene was isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana and placed under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter in the pBI121-rty binary vector carrying the selectable marker of neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPT II). Seven transgenic lines were confirmed by PCR and western blot analysis. Accumulations of IAA and ABA were significantly increased in the transgenic plants. The endogenous IAA contents were 46.5 ng g− 1 and 66.0 ng g− 1in control and transgenic plants respectively. The endogenous ABA contents in the control plant were 236.3 ng g− 1 and in transgenic plants were 543.8 ng g− 1. The production of adventitious roots and trichomes were enhanced in the transgenic plants. Furthermore, transcript levels of the genes including IAA and ABA biosynthetic, and stress-responsive genes, were higher in the transgenic plants than in the control plants under drought conditions. Water use efficiency and a reduced water loss rate were enhanced in the transgenic strawberry plants. Additionally, peroxidase and catalase activities were significantly higher in the transgenic plants than in the control plants. The experiment results revealed a novel function for rty related to ABA and drought responses.ConclusionsThe rty gene improved hormone-mediated drought tolerance in transgenic strawberry. The heterologous expression of rty in strawberry improved drought tolerance by promoting auxin and ABA accumulation. These phytohormones together brought about various physiological changes that improved drought tolerance via increased root production, trichome density, and stomatal closure. Our results suggested that a transgenic approach can be used to overcome the inherent trade-off between plant growth and drought tolerance by enhancing water use efficiency and reducing water loss rate under water shortage conditions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY