A novel rice C2H2-type zinc finger protein, ZFP36, is a key player involved in abscisic acid-induced antioxidant defence and oxidative stress tolerance in rice.

Hong Zhang,Feng Wen,Lan Ni,Yanpei Liu,Jin Guo,Dongmei Yao,Lu Wang,Aying Zhang,Mingyi Jiang,Mingpu Tan

doi:10.1093/jxb/eru313

Hong Zhang, Feng Wen + Show 8 more

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https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eru313

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C2H2-type zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) have been shown to play important roles in the responses of plants to oxidative and abiotic stresses, and different members of this family might have different roles during stresses. Here a novel abscisic acid (ABA)- and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-responsive C2H2-type ZFP gene, ZFP36, is identified in rice. The analyses of ZFP36-overexpressing and silenced transgenic rice plants showed that ZFP36 is involved in ABA-induced up-regulation of the expression and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). Overexpression of ZFP36 in rice plants was found to elevate the activities of antioxidant enzymes and to enhance the tolerance of rice plants to water stress and oxidative stress. In contrast, an RNA interference (RNAi) mutant of ZFP36 had lower activities of antioxidant enzymes and was more sensitive to water stress and oxidative stress. ABA-induced H₂O₂ production and ABA-activated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) were shown to regulate the expression of ZFP36 in ABA signalling. On the other hand, ZFP36 also regulated the expression of NADPH oxidase genes, the production of H₂O₂, and the expression of OsMPK genes in ABA signalling. These results indicate that ZFP36 is required for ABA-induced antioxidant defence, for the tolerance of rice plants to water stress and oxidative stress, and for the regulation of the cross-talk between NADPH oxidase, H₂O₂, and MAPK in ABA signalling.

Highlights

Water stress, including drought and salinity, is one of the most important environmental factors that adversely affect plant growth and crop production
Biochemical, and molecular biology analyses with genetic approaches, evidence is provided to show that ZFP36 plays a key role in abscisic acid (ABA)-induced antioxidant defence and tolerance of rice to water stress and oxidative stress
The ZFP36 gene containing a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 663 bp was cloned by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) from total RNA prepared from rice seedlings

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Water stress, including drought and salinity, is one of the most important environmental factors that adversely affect plant growth and crop production. One mode of ABA-enhanced water stress tolerance is associated with the induction of antioxidant defence systems, including enzymatic and non-enzymatic constituents, which protect plant cells against oxidative damage. Signal transduction, several signal molecules such as calcium ion (Ca2+), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO), and protein kinases such as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK), and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CCaMK) have been shown to play important roles in the regulation of antioxidant defence systems (Jiang and Zhang, 2001, 2002a, b, 2003; Zhang et al, 2006, 2007; Neill et al, 2008; Xing et al, 2008; Ye et al, 2011; Ma et al, 2012; Shi et al, 2012, 2014; Ding et al, 2013). The mechanisms by which these components regulate antioxidant defence in ABA signalling remain to be determined

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