Abstract
Drought is the main abiotic stress factor limiting the growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Therefore, improving wheat tolerance to drought stress is essential for maintaining yield. Previous studies have reported on the important role of TaNRX1 in conferring drought stress tolerance. Therefore, to elucidate the regulation mechanism by which TaNRX1 confers drought resistance in wheat, we generated TaNRX1 overexpression (OE) and RNA interference (RNAi) wheat lines. The results showed that the tolerance of the OE lines to drought stress were significantly enhanced. The survival rate, leaf chlorophyll, proline, soluble sugar content, and activities of the antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase) of the OE lines were higher than those of the wild type (WT); however, the relative electrical conductivity and malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide anion levels of the OE lines were lower than those of the WT; the RNAi lines showed the opposite results. RNA-seq results showed that the common differentially expressed genes of TaNRX1 OE and RNAi lines, before and after drought stress, were mainly distributed in the plant–pathogen interaction, plant hormone signal transduction, phenylpropane biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism, and carbon metabolism pathways and were related to the transcription factors, including WRKY, MYB, and bHLH families. This study suggests that TaNRX1 positively regulates drought stress tolerance in wheat.
Highlights
Thioredoxin (TRX) is a class of small proteins with a molecular weight of approximately 12 kDa widely found in animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms (Meyer et al, 2012)
The vector pLGY-02 contained hygromycin resistance, and the 950 bp DNA segment was amplified in the transgenic wheat lines; no amplification was detected in wild type (WT) plants (Supplementary Figure 1)
The RNA-seq results in this study showed that the expression levels of TaPP2C37, TaPP2C50, and TaPP2C68 were all increased in TaNRX1-OE, TaNRX1-RNA interference (RNAi), and WT lines after drought treatment compared with those at pre-drought treatment, and the increased expression was higher in TaNRX1OE lines
Summary
Thioredoxin (TRX) is a class of small proteins with a molecular weight of approximately 12 kDa widely found in animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms (Meyer et al, 2012). TRX plays an irreplaceable role in maintaining the balance of the intracellular redox state and regulating the spatial structure and activity of the proteins. It is involved in regulating plant growth and development and the response process in resisting drought, high temperature, and other adverse. TRX participates in a series of physiological and biochemical processes in cells by reducing disulfide bonds in the target proteins (Wong et al, 2004; Joudrier et al, 2005; Traverso et al, 2007; Schurman and Buchanan, 2008). Nucleoredoxin (NRX) is a member of the TRX family, and its molecular weight is considered to be larger than that of TRX
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