R2R3-MYB Transcription Factor PlMYB108 Confers Drought Tolerance in Herbaceous Peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.).

Yanqing Wu,Daqiu Zhao,Tingting Li,Jun Tao,Zhuoya Cheng

doi:10.3390/ijms222111884

Yanqing Wu, Daqiu Zhao + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222111884

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Abstract

The MYB transcription factor (TF) is crucial for plant growth, development, and response to abiotic stress, but it is rarely reported in the herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.). Here, an MYB TF gene was isolated, and based on our prior mRNA data from P. lactiflora samples, it was treated with drought stress (DS). Its complete cDNA structure was 1314 bp, which encoded 291 amino acids (aa). Furthermore, using sequence alignment analysis, we demonstrated that PlMYB108 was an R2R3-MYB TF. We also revealed that PlMYB108 was primarily localized in the nucleus. Its levels rose during DS, and it was positively correlated with drought tolerance (DT) in P. lactiflora. In addition, when PlMYB108 was overexpressed in tobacco plants, the flavonoid content, antioxidant enzyme activities, and photosynthesis were markedly elevated. Hence, the transgenic plants had stronger DT with a higher leaf water content and lower H2O2 accumulation compared to the wild-type (WT) plants. Based on these results, PlMYB108 is a vital gene that serves to increase flavonoid accumulation, reactive oxygen species (ROS), scavenging capacity, and photosynthesis to confer DT. The results would provide a genetic resource for molecular breeding to enhance plant DT.

Highlights

Ricardo ArocaAs the global climate continues to warm, a large quantity of water evaporates, resulting in a massive reduction in soil water content and subsequent drought conditions [1]
Based on our previous transcriptome data of P. lactiflora treated with drought stress, (SAR: SRP131648) [20], the transcription factor (TF) MYB108 (Unigene0031519), produced the largest difference from the controls; we examined its full-length cDNA via RACE
The result demonstrates that MYB108 has an open reading frame (ORF) of 876 bp, a 50 UTR of 156 bp and a 30 UTR of 282 bp

Summary

Introduction

Ricardo ArocaAs the global climate continues to warm, a large quantity of water evaporates, resulting in a massive reduction in soil water content and subsequent drought conditions [1]. In these areas, drought remains a major factor restricting landscaping construction. Plants have evolved a variety of survival mechanisms in order to adapt to arid environments. One such mechanism is the regulation of drought-resistant genes [5]. Transcription factors (TFs) belong to regulatory genes, which modulate the levels of multiple functional genes related to drought resistance. The TF families associated with plant drought resistance mainly include bZIP (Basic leucine zipper), AP2/ERF (APETALA2/Ethylene Response Element Binding Factors), MYB (myeloblastoma), WRKY, NAC, etc.

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