Isolation and characterization of a new Na+/H+antiporter geneOsNHA1from rice (Oryza sativaL.)

An A20/AN1-type zinc finger protein modulates gibberellins and abscisic acid contents and increases sensitivity to abiotic stress in rice (Oryza sativa)

The plant hormones gibberellins (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) play important roles in plant development and stress responses. Here we report a novel A20/AN1-type zinc finger protein ZFP185 involved in GA and ABA signaling in the regulation of growth and stress response. ZFP185 was constitutively expressed in various rice tissues. Overexpression of ZFP185 in rice results in a semi-dwarfism phenotype, reduced cell size, and the decrease of endogenous GA3 content. By contrast, higher GA3 content was observed in RNAi plants. The application of exogenous GA3 can fully rescue the semi-dwarfism phenotype of ZFP185 overexpressing plants, suggesting the negative role of ZFP185 in GA biosynthesis. Besides GA, overexpression of ZFP185 decreased ABA content and expression of several ABA biosynthesis-related genes. Moreover, it was found that ZFP185, unlike previously known A20/AN1-type zinc finger genes, increases sensitivity to drought, cold, and salt stresses, implying the negative role of ZFP185 in stress tolerance. ZFP185 was localized in the cytoplasm and lacked transcriptional activation potential. Our study suggests that ZFP185 regulates plant growth and stress responses by affecting GA and ABA biosynthesis in rice.

Functional analysis of OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 revealed their involvement in the heat shock response in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The heat shock response (HSR) induces the production of heat shock proteins (HSPs) through the activation of heat shock factors (HSF). HSF binding protein (HSBP) is reported to modulate the function of HSF by binding to their trimer and hence to regulate HSR. This report describes the role of OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 in the regulation of the HSR and seed development of rice. Both genes expressed ubiquitously in all tissues under normal growth conditions while their expression levels were significantly increased during recovery after heat shock treatment. Subcellular localization revealed the cytosol-nuclear localization of both OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 in onion epidermal cells. The yeast two-hybrid assay depicted the self-binding ability of both genes. Both genes were also important for seed development, as their knock-down lines were associated with significant seed abortion. The thermotolerance assay revealed that OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 are negative regulators of HSR and involved in acquired thermotolerance but not in basal thermotolerance since their over-expression transgenic lines pre-heated at sublethal temperature, showed significantly decreased seedling survival after heat shock treatment. Furthermore, antioxidant activity and gene expression of catalase and peroxidase was significantly increased in knock-down transgenic seedlings of OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 after heat stress compared with the wild type. The expression of heat specific HSPs was also increased significantly in knockdown line of both genes but in a specific manner, suggesting the involvement of HSBP genes in different pathways. Overall, the present study reveals the role of OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 in the regulation of the HSR and seed development of rice.

Conserved and diversified gene families of monovalent cation/h(+) antiporters from algae to flowering plants

All organisms have evolved strategies to regulate ion and pH homeostasis in response to developmental and environmental cues. One strategy is mediated by monovalent cation-proton antiporters (CPA) that are classified in two superfamilies. Many CPA1 genes from bacteria, fungi, metazoa, and plants have been functionally characterized; though roles of plant CPA2 genes encoding K(+)-efflux antiporter (KEA) and cation/H(+) exchanger (CHX) families are largely unknown. Phylogenetic analysis showed that three clades of the CPA1 Na(+)-H(+) exchanger (NHX) family have been conserved from single-celled algae to Arabidopsis. These are (i) plasma membrane-bound SOS1/AtNHX7 that share ancestry with prokaryote NhaP, (ii) endosomal AtNHX5/6 that is part of the eukaryote Intracellular-NHE clade, and (iii) a vacuolar NHX clade (AtNHX1-4) specific to plants. Early diversification of KEA genes possibly from an ancestral cyanobacterium gene is suggested by three types seen in all plants. Intriguingly, CHX genes diversified from three to four members in one subclade of early land plants to 28 genes in eight subclades of Arabidopsis. Homologs from Spirogyra or Physcomitrella share high similarity with AtCHX20, suggesting that guard cell-specific AtCHX20 and its closest relatives are founders of the family, and pollen-expressed CHX genes appeared later in monocots and early eudicots. AtCHX proteins mediate K(+) transport and pH homeostasis, and have been localized to intracellular and plasma membrane. Thus KEA genes are conserved from green algae to angiosperms, and their presence in red algae and secondary endosymbionts suggest a role in plastids. In contrast, AtNHX1-4 subtype evolved in plant cells to handle ion homeostasis of vacuoles. The great diversity of CHX genes in land plants compared to metazoa, fungi, or algae would imply a significant role of ion and pH homeostasis at dynamic endomembranes in the vegetative and reproductive success of flowering plants.

Nitric oxide enhances salt secretion and Na(+) sequestration in a mangrove plant, Avicennia marina, through increasing the expression of H(+)-ATPase and Na(+)/H(+) antiporter under high salinity

Modulation of nitric oxide (NO) on ion homeostasis, by enhancing salt secretion in the salt glands and Na(+) sequestration into the vacuoles, was investigated in a salt-secreting mangrove tree, Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh. The major results are as follows: (i) under 400 mM NaCl treatment, the application of 100 µM sodium nitroprusside (SNP), an NO donor, significantly increased the density of salt crystals and salt secretion rate of the leaves, along with maintaining a low Na(+) to K(+) ratio in the leaves. (ii) The measurement of element contents by X-ray microanalysis in the epidermis and transversal sections of A. marina leaves revealed that SNP (100 µM) significantly increased the accumulation of Na(+) in the epidermis and hypodermal cells, particularly the Na(+) to K(+) ratio in the salt glands, but no such effects were observed in the mesophyll cells. (iii) Using non-invasive micro-test technology (NMT), both long-term SNP (100 µM) and transient SNP (30 µM) treatments significantly increased net Na(+) efflux in the salt glands. On the contrary, NO synthesis inhibitors and scavenger reversed the effects of NO on Na(+) flux. These results indicate that NO enhanced salt secretion by increasing net Na(+) efflux in the salt glands. (iv) Western blot analysis demonstrated that 100 µM SNP stimulated protein expressions of plasma membrane (PM) H(+)-ATPase and vacuolar membrane Na(+)/H(+) antiporter. (v) To further clarify the molecular mechanism of the effects of NO on enhancing salt secretion and Na(+) sequestration, partial cDNA fragments of PM H(+)-ATPase (HA1), PM Na(+)/H(+) antiporter (SOS1) and vacuolar Na(+)/H(+) antiporter (NHX1) were isolated and transcriptional expression of HA1, SOS1, NHX1 and vacuolar H(+)-ATPase subunit c (VHA-c1) genes were analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The relative transcript abundance of the four genes were markedly increased in 100 µM SNP-treated A. marina. Moreover, the increase was reversed by NO synthesis inhibitors and scavenger. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that NO functions as a signal in salt resistance of A. marina by enhancing salt secretion and Na(+) sequestration, which depend on the increased expression of the H(+)-ATPase and Na(+)/H(+) antiporter.

Functional analysis of a novel Cys2/His2-type zinc finger protein involved in salt tolerance in rice

The Cys2/His2-type zinc finger proteins have been implicated in different cellular processes involved in plant development and stress responses. Through microarray analysis, a salt-responsive zinc finger protein gene ZFP179 was identified and subsequently cloned from rice seedlings. ZFP179 encodes a 17.95 kDa protein with two C2H2-type zinc finger motifs having transcriptional activation activity. The real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that ZFP179 was highly expressed in immature spikes, and markedly induced in the seedlings by NaCl, PEG 6000, and ABA treatments. Overexpression of ZFP179 in rice increased salt tolerance and the transgenic seedlings showed hypersensitivity to exogenous ABA. The increased levels of free proline and soluble sugars were observed in transgenic plants compared to wild-type plants under salt stress. The ZFP179 transgenic rice exhibited significantly increased tolerance to oxidative stress, the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging ability, and expression levels of a number of stress-related genes, including OsDREB2A, OsP5CS OsProT, and OsLea3 under salt stress. Our studies suggest that ZFP179 plays a crucial role in the plant response to salt stress, and is useful in developing transgenic crops with enhanced tolerance to salt stress.

The OsDHODH1 gene is involved in salt and drought tolerance in rice

In the present paper, we identified and cloned OsDHODH1 encoding a putative cytosolic dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) in rice. Expression analysis indicated that OsDHODH1 is upregulated by salt, drought and exogenous abscisic acid (ABA), but not by cold. By prokaryotic expression, we determined the enzymatic activity of OsDHODH1 and found that overproduction of OsDHODH1 significantly improved the tolerance of Escherichia coli cells to salt and osmotic stresses. Overexpression of the OsDHODH1 gene in rice increased the DHODH activity and enhanced plant tolerance to salt and drought stresses as compared with wild type and OsDHODH1-antisense transgenic plants. Our findings reveal, for the first time, that cytosolic dihydroorotate dehydrogenase is involved in plant stress response and that OsDHODH1 could be used in engineering crop plants with enhanced tolerance to salt and drought.

Isolation and characterization of plasma membrane Na(+)/H(+) antiporter genes from salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant reed plants

We isolated cDNAs for Na(+)/H(+) antiporter genes (PhaNHA1s) from salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant reed plants. A phylogenetic analysis and localization analysis using yeast strains expressing PhaNHA1-GFP protein showed that PhaNHA1s were plasma membrane Na(+)/H(+) antiporters. Yeast strains expressing PhaNHA1 from salt-tolerant reed plants (PhaNHA1-n) grew well than yeast strains expressing PhaNHA1 from salt-sensitive reed plants (PhaNHA1-u) in the presence of 100mM NaCl. Furthermore, Na(+) contents of yeast cells expressing PhaNHA1-n were less than half of those of yeast cells expressing PhaNHA1-u. These results suggest that PhaNHA1-n is more efficient at excluding Na(+) from the cells than PhaNHA1-u.

Calcium- and salt-stress signaling in plants: shedding light on SOS pathway

As salt stress imposes a major environmental threat to agriculture, understanding the basic physiology and genetics of cell under salt stress is crucial for developing any transgenic strategy. Salt Overly Sensitive (SOS) genes (SOS1-SOS3) were isolated through positional cloning. Since sos mutants are hypersensitive to salt, their characterization resulted in the discovery of a novel pathway, which has helped in our understanding the mechanism of salt-stress tolerance in plants. Genetic analysis confirmed that SOS1-SOS3 function in a common pathway of salt tolerance. This pathway also emphasizes the significance of Ca2+ signal in reinstating cellular ion homeostasis. SOS3, a Ca2+ sensor, transduces the signal downstream after activating and interacting with SOS2 protein kinase. This SOS3-SOS2 complex activates the Na+/H+ antiporter activity of SOS1 thereby reestablish cellular ion homeostasis. Recently, SOS4 and SOS5 have also been characterized. SOS4 encodes a pyridoxal (PL) kinase that is involved in the biosynthesis of pyridoxal-5-phosphate (PLP), an active form of vitamin B6. SOS5 has been shown to be a putative cell surface adhesion protein that is required for normal cell expansion. Under salt stress, the normal growth and expansion of a plant cell becomes even more important and SOS5 helps in the maintenance of cell wall integrity and architecture. In this review we focus on the recent advances in salt stress and SOS signaling pathway. A broad coverage of the discovery of SOS mutants, structural aspect of these genes and the latest developments in the field of SOS1-SOS5 has been described.

A novel rice C2H2-type zinc finger protein lacking DLN-box/EAR-motif plays a role in salt tolerance

A cDNA for the gene ZFP182, encoding a C2H2-type zinc finger protein, was cloned from rice by RT-PCR. ZFP182 codes an 18.2 kDa protein with two C2H2-type zinc finger motifs, one nuclear localization signal and one Leu-rich domain. The DLN-box/EAR-motif, which exists in most of plant C2H2-type zinc finger proteins, does not exist in ZFP182. The expression analysis showed that ZFP182 gene was constitutively expressed in leaves, culms, roots and spikes at the adult rice plants, and markedly induced in the seedlings by cold (4 degrees C), 150 mM NaCl and 0.1 mM ABA treatments. The approximate 1.4 kb promoter region of ZFP182 gene was fused into GUS reporter gene and transformed into tobacco. The histochemical analysis revealed that GUS expression could not be detected in transformed tobacco seedlings under normal conditions, but strongly observed in tobacco leaf discs and the vascular tissue of roots treated with NaCl or KCl. Expression of ZFP182 in transgenic tobacco and overexpression in rice increased plant tolerance to salt stress. These results demonstrated that ZFP182 might be involved in plant responses to salt stress.