Citrus FRIGIDA cooperates with its interaction partner dehydrin to regulate drought tolerance.

Abstract

Drought is a major environmental stress that severely affects plant growth and crop productivity. FRIGIDA (FRI) is a key regulator of flowering time and drought tolerance in model plants. However, little is known regarding its functions in woody plants, including citrus. Thus, we explored the functional role of the citrus FRI ortholog (CiFRI) under drought. Drought treatment induced CiFRI expression. CiFRI overexpression enhanced drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis and citrus, while CiFRI suppression increased drought susceptibility in citrus. Moreover, transcriptomic profiling under drought conditions suggested that CiFRI overexpression altered the expression of numerous genes involved in the stress response, hormone biosynthesis, and signal transduction. Mechanistic studies revealed that citrus dehydrin likely protects CiFRI from stress-induced degradation, thereby enhancing plant drought tolerance. In addition, a citrus brassinazole-resistant (BZR) transcription factor family member (CiBZR1) directly binds to the CiFRI promoter to activate its expression under drought conditions. CiBZR1 also enhanced drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis and citrus. These findings further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the CiFRI-mediated drought stress response in citrus.