Abstract
NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC2) transcription factors play important roles in plant growth, development, and responses to abiotic stress. In this study, we cloned an NAC2 subfamily transcription factor gene (SlNAC7) from the halophyte Suaeda liaotungensis K., and conducted a series of studies to determine the characteristics and functions of this gene. The SlNAC7 coding region contains 1719 base pairs that encode a 573 amino acid long protein. SlNAC7 is expressed in the roots, stems, and leaves of S. liaotungensis, with the highest expression in the leaves. We found that SlNAC7 expression can be induced by drought, salt, cold, and abscisic acid. Transient expression in onion epidermal cells revealed that SlNAC7 is located in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. A transcriptional activation experiment in yeast showed that the transcriptional activation domain of SlNAC7 is located at the C terminus. When SlNAC7 was transformed into Arabidopsis under the control of a CaMV 35S promoter its overexpression was found to enhance the ability of transgenic plants to resist drought, salt, and cold stress. Moreover, these plants showed multiple changes in growth characteristics and physiological and biochemical indices in response to different stresses, as well as the upregulation of numerous stress-related genes. We have thus characterized a new halophyte-derived NAC transcription factor, SlNAC7, which can regulate plant growth and physiological and biochemical changes under adverse conditions by regulating the expression of stress-related genes, thereby enhancing plant stress resistance. SlNAC7 is a promising candidate for breeding new varieties of stress-tolerant crops.
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Change history
21 May 2021
The corresponding author’s name was published incorrectly as “Qiu-Li-Li1” and corrected in this version.
Abbreviations
- ABA:
-
Abscisic acid
- MS:
-
Murashige and Skoog
- GFP:
-
Green fluorescent protein
- DAPI:
-
4′,6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole
- SOD:
-
Superoxide dismutase
- POD:
-
Peroxidase
- CAT:
-
Catalase
- MDA:
-
Malondialdehyde
- PSII:
-
Photosystem II
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32070352) and Scientific Research Project of Liaoning Province Education Department (No. LJ2020011).
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Q-LL, H-FW, H-YS, and HS conceived and designed the experiments. H-FW performed the gene cloning, bioinformatic analysis, and data processing, and drafted the manuscript. H-YS performed the stress tolerance assays, measurements of morphological and physiological indices, and qRT-PCR analysis. HS performed vector construction, subcellular localization analysis, and plant transformation. D-DW assisted in vector construction and the transactivation assay using yeast. T-TL assisted in plant transformation and phenotypic analyses. Q-LL revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Wang, HF., Shan, HY., Shi, H. et al. Characterization of a transcription factor SlNAC7 gene from Suaeda liaotungensis and its role in stress tolerance. J Plant Res 134, 1105–1120 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-021-01309-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-021-01309-0