Dataset Information

Overexpression of a WRKY Transcription Factor TaWRKY2 Enhances Drought Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Wheat.

ABSTRACT: Drought is a major environmental stress that severely restricts plant growth and crop productivity. A previous study showed that TaWRKY2 from wheat (Triticum aestivum) plays an important role in drought stress tolerance. In the present study, we isolated the promoter of TaWRKY2 and identified multiple regulatory cis-elements in the promoter region. The activity of the TaWRKY2 promoter was induced by drought, salt, heat, and abscisic acid (ABA). We also generated TaWRKY2-overexpressing transgenic wheat, and found that the transgenic seedlings exhibited significantly enhanced tolerance to drought stress, as evidenced by a higher survival rate and lower water loss rate of detached leaves compared with wild type (WT) plants. In addition, the transgenic lines had higher contents of free proline, soluble sugar, and chlorophyll. During a prolonged period of drought stress before the heading stage, the growth of WT plants was inhibited, whereas the TaWRKY2-overexpressing lines progressed to the heading stage. The increased grain yield of the transgenic wheat lines reflected the cumulative effects of longer panicle length, more kernels per spike, and greater aboveground biomass. Our findings show that TaWRKY2 can enhance drought tolerance and increase grain yield in wheat, thus providing a promising candidate target for improving the drought tolerance of wheat cultivars through genetic engineering.

SUBMITTER: Gao H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6090177 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Overexpression of a WRKY Transcription Factor TaWRKY2 Enhances Drought Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Wheat.

Gao Huiming H Wang Yafei Y Xu Ping P Zhang Zhengbin Z

Frontiers in plant science 20180807

Drought is a major environmental stress that severely restricts plant growth and crop productivity. A previous study showed that TaWRKY2 from wheat (Triticum aestivum) plays an important role in drought stress tolerance. In the present study, we isolated the promoter of TaWRKY2 and identified multiple regulatory cis-elements in the promoter region. The activity of the TaWRKY2 promoter was induced by drought, salt, heat, and abscisic acid (ABA). We also generate ...[more]

PMID: 30131813

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Project description:BackgroundWheat, a crucial food crop in China, is highly vulnerable to drought stress throughout its growth and development. WRKY transcription factors (TFs), being one of the largest families of TFs, play a vital role in responding to various abiotic stresses in plants.ResultsHere, we cloned and characterized the TF TaWRKY31 isolated from wheat. This TF, belonging to the WRKY II family, contains a WRKYGQK amino acid sequence and a C2H2-type zinc finger structure. TaWRKY31 exhibits tissue-specific expression and demonstrates responsiveness to abiotic stresses in wheat. TaWRKY31 protein is localized in the nucleus and can function as a TF with transcription activating activity at the N-terminus. Results showed that the wheat plants with silenced strains (BSMV:TaWRKY31-1as and BSMV:TaWRKY31-2as) exhibited poor growth status and low relative water content when subjected to drought treatment. Moreover, the levels of O2·-, H2O2, and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the BSMV:TaWRKY31-induced wheat plants increased, while the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase) decreased. Compared to control plants, BSMV:TaWRKY31-induced wheat plants exhibited lower expression levels of TaSOD (Fe), TaPOD, TaCAT, TaDREB1, TaP5CS, TaNCED1, TaSnRK2, TaPP2C, and TaPYL5.Under stress or drought treatment conditions, the overexpression of TaWRKY31 in Arabidopsis resulted in decreased levels of H2O2 and MDA, as well as reduced stomatal opening and water loss. Furthermore, an increase in resistance oxidase activity, germination rate, and root length in the TaWRKY31 transgenic Arabidopsis was observed. Lastly, overexpression of TaWRKY31 in Arabidopsis resulted in higher the expression levels of AtNCED3, AtABA2, AtSnRK2.2, AtABI1, AtABF3, AtP5CS1, AtSOD (Cu/Zn), AtPOD, AtCAT, AtRD29A, AtRD29B, and AtDREB2A than in control plants.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that TaWRKY31 enhances drought resistance in plants by promoting the scavenging of reactive oxygen species, reducing stomatal opening, and increasing the expression levels of stress-related genes.

Project description:NAC (NAM, ATAF, and CUC) transcription factors play important roles in plant biological processes, including phytohormone homeostasis, plant development, and in responses to various environmental stresses.TaNAC29 was introduced into Arabidopsis using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated floral dipping method. TaNAC29-overexpression plants were subjected to salt and drought stresses for examining gene functions. To investigate tolerant mechanisms involved in the salt and drought responses, expression of related marker genes analyses were conducted, and related physiological indices were also measured. Expressions of genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).A novel NAC transcription factor gene, designated TaNAC29, was isolated from bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). Sequence alignment suggested that TaNAC29 might be located on chromosome 2BS. TaNAC29 was localized to the nucleus in wheat protoplasts, and proved to have transcriptional activation activities in yeast. TaNAC29 was expressed at a higher level in the leaves, and expression levels were much higher in senescent leaves, indicating that TaNAC29 might be involved in the senescence process. TaNAC29 transcripts were increased following treatments with salt, PEG6000, H2O2, and abscisic acid (ABA). To examine TaNAC29 function, transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing TaNAC29 were generated. Germination and root length assays of transgenic plants demonstrated that TaNAC29 overexpression plants had enhanced tolerances to high salinity and dehydration, and exhibited an ABA-hypersensitive response. When grown in the greenhouse, TaNAC29-overexpression plants showed the same tolerance response to salt and drought stresses at both the vegetative and reproductive period, and had delayed bolting and flowering in the reproductive period. Moreover, TaNAC29 overexpression plants accumulated lesser malondialdehyde (MDA), H2O2, while had higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities under high salinity and/or dehydration stress.Our results demonstrate that TaNAC29 plays important roles in the senescence process and response to salt and drought stresses. ABA signal pathway and antioxidant enzyme systems are involved in TaNAC29-mediated stress tolerance mechanisms.

Dataset Information

Overexpression of a WRKY Transcription Factor TaWRKY2 Enhances Drought Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Wheat.

Publications

Overexpression of a WRKY Transcription Factor <i>TaWRKY2</i> Enhances Drought Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Wheat.

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