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Jian W, Zheng Y, Yu T, Cao H, Chen Y, Cui Q, Xu C, Li Z. SlNAC6, A NAC transcription factor, is involved in drought stress response and reproductive process in tomato. J Plant Physiol 2021; 264:153483. [PMID: 34371311 DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2021.153483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Revised: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Tomato plants are susceptible to drought stress, but the mechanism involved in this process still remains poorly understood. In the present study, we demonstrated that SlNAC6, a nuclear-localized protein induced by exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) stress treatment, plays a positive role in tomato plant response to PEG stress. Down-regulation of SlNAC6 (SlNAC6-RNAi) resulted in a semidwarf phenotype, and the SlNAC6-RNAi lines showed reduced tolerance to PEG stress, exhibiting a higher water loss rate and degree of oxidative damage, as well as lower values of proline content and antioxidant enzyme activity, when compared with those in wild type (WT). In contrast, overexpression of SlNAC6 (SlNAC6-OE) leads to a significant delay of growth, and the SlNAC6-OE lines showed greatly enhanced tolerance to PEG stress concomitant with a lower water loss rate and degree of oxidative damage, as well as higher values of proline content and antioxidant enzyme activity. Further study showed that the transcription level of ABA signaling-related genes and the ABA content are respectively decreased or increased in SlNAC6-RNAi and SlNAC6-OE seedlings, as verified by multiple physiological parameters, such as stomatal conductance, water loss rate, seed germination, and root length. Moreover, overexpression of SlNAC6 can accelerate tomato fruit ripening. Collectively, this study demonstrates SlNAC6 exerts important roles in tomato development, drought stress response, and fruit ripening processes, some of them perhaps partly through modulating an ABA-mediated pathway, which implies SlNAC6 may hold the potential applications in improving agronomic traits of tomato or other Solanaceae crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Jian
- Key Laboratory of Plant Hormones and Development Regulation of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, China; School of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, 401331, China
| | - Yixuan Zheng
- School of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, 401331, China
| | - Tingting Yu
- School of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, 401331, China
| | - Haohao Cao
- Key Laboratory of Plant Hormones and Development Regulation of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, China; Center of Plant Functional Genomics, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, 401331, Chongqing, China
| | - Yu Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, 401331, China
| | - Qunyao Cui
- School of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, 401331, China
| | - Chan Xu
- Key Laboratory of Plant Hormones and Development Regulation of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, China; Center of Plant Functional Genomics, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, 401331, Chongqing, China
| | - Zhengguo Li
- Key Laboratory of Plant Hormones and Development Regulation of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, China; Center of Plant Functional Genomics, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, 401331, Chongqing, China.
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