WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) transcription factors play essential roles in key developmental processes and in response to different abiotic stresses. In a recent study, we have refined a molecular regulation mechanism that drought-induced PagERF35 directly activates the expression of PagWOX11/12a thus to promote root elongation and biomass, especially under drought conditions, and resulting in enhanced drought tolerance in poplar. In this study, we further found that PagWOX11/12a overexpression significantly enhanced drought tolerance and improved survival rate. Interestingly, transgenic poplars overexpressing PagWOX11/12a exhibited higher ability in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) under drought stress. Combined with these and previous findings, we proposed the mechanism that PagWOX11/12a could not only promote root elongation and biomass growth to increase drought tolerance but also improve plant drought tolerance by regulating ROS level through possibly modulating the expression of ROS scavenging related genes.

中文翻译：

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WUSCHEL相关同源框基因PagWOX11/12a通过调节杨树活性氧清除参与抗旱性

WUSCHEL 相关同源盒 (WOX) 转录因子在关键发育过程和响应不同的非生物胁迫中发挥重要作用。在最近的一项研究中，我们完善了一种分子调控机制，即干旱诱导的 PagERF35 直接激活 PagWOX11/12a 的表达，从而促进根伸长和生物量，尤其是在干旱条件下，从而增强杨树的耐旱性。在本研究中，我们进一步发现 PagWOX11/12a 过表达显着增强了耐旱性并提高了存活率。有趣的是，过表达 PagWOX11/12a 的转基因杨树在干旱胁迫下表现出更高的清除活性氧 (ROS) 的能力。结合这些和以前的发现，