Ectopic expression of Medicago truncatula homeodomain finger protein, MtPHD6, enhances drought tolerance in Arabidopsis

BMC Genomics

Zhulong Chan¹  Mingzhu Yin²  Xun Liu³  Wenli Quan⁴  Lihua Wang⁴  Li Yang⁵ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in Central China, Ministry of Agriculture;College of Basic Medicine, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine;Institute of Molecular Physiology and Biotechnology of Plants (IMBIO), University of Bonn;Key Laboratory for Quality Control of Characteristic Fruits and Vegetables of Hubei Province, College of Life Science and Technology, Hubei Engineering University;Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education;

关键词: ABA;    Drought stress;    Interaction network;    Medicago truncatula;    PHD finger protein;    Zinc finger protein;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12864-019-6350-5

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background The plant homeodomain (PHD) finger is a Cys4HisCys3-type zinc finger which promotes protein-protein interactions and binds to the cis-acting elements in the promoter regions of target genes. In Medicago truncatula, five PHD homologues with full-length sequence were identified. However, the detailed function of PHD genes was not fully addressed. Results In this study, we characterized the function of MtPHD6 during plant responses to drought stress. MtPHD6 was highly induced by drought stress. Ectopic expression of MtPHD6 in Arabidopsis enhanced tolerance to osmotic and drought stresses. MtPHD6 transgenic plants exhibited decreased water loss rate, MDA and ROS contents, and increased leaf water content and antioxidant enzyme activities under drought condition. Global transcriptomic analysis revealed that MtPHD6 reprogramed transcriptional networks in transgenic plants. Expression levels of ABA receptor PYR/PYLs, ZINC FINGER, AP2/EREBP and WRKY transcription factors were mainly up-regulated after transformation of MtPHD6. Interaction network analysis showed that ZINC FINGER, AP2/EREBP and WRKY interacted with each other and downstream stress induced proteins. Conclusions We proposed that ZINC FINGER, AP2/EREBP and WRKY transcription factors were activated through ABA dependent and independent pathways to increase drought tolerance of MtPHD6 transgenic plants.

【 授权许可】

Unknown