RNA-Binding Proteins as Targets to Improve Salt Stress Tolerance in Crops

Sara Rosa Téllez,Ramón Serrano,Roc Ros,Rodoldphe Kanhonou,Paula Alepuz,Carlos Castellote Bellés

doi:10.3390/agronomy10020250

Sara Rosa Téllez, Ramón Serrano + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10020250

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Abstract

Salt stress drastically reduce crop productivity. In order to identify genes that could improve crop salt tolerance, we randomly expressed a cDNA library of the halotolerant sugar beet in a sodium-sensitive yeast strain. We identified six sugar beet genes coding for RNA binding proteins (RBP) able to increase the yeast Na+-tolerance. Two of these genes, named Beta vulgaris Salt Tolerant 3 (BvSATO3) and BvU2AF35b, participate in RNA splicing. The other four BvSATO genes (BvSATO1, BvSATO2, BvSATO4 and BvSATO6) are putatively involved in other processes of RNA metabolism. BvU2AF35b improved the growth of a wild type yeast strain under salt stress, and also in mutant backgrounds with impaired splicing, thus confirming that splicing is a target of salt toxicity. To validate the yeast approach, we characterized BvSATO1 in sugar beet and Arabidopsis. BvSATO1 expression was repressed by salt treatment in sugar beet, suggesting that this gene could be a target of salt toxicity. Expression of BvSATO1 in Arabidopsis increased the plant salt tolerance. Our results suggest that not only RNA splicing, but RNA metabolic processes such as such as RNA stability or nonsense-mediated mRNA decay may also be affected by salt stress and could be biotechnological targets for crop improvement.

Highlights

Global demand for food production is increasing and will continue to increase over the several decades
We describe the characterization of several sugar beet RNA binding proteins (RBP) identified by random expression in yeast that could be important targets of salt toxicity in plants
In order to identify molecular targets of salt toxicity in plants, we constructed a NaCl-induced cDNA expression library from the aerial part of sugar beet plants, and undertook a systematic search for genes that confer increased salt tolerance when expressed in the Na+ -sensitive yeast strain ena 1-4

Summary

Introduction

Global demand for food production is increasing and will continue to increase over the several decades. Drought and salinity stresses are considered the two major abiotic stresses that drastically reduce the productivity in cultivated plants, threatening food security [1,2,3]. This is because crop plants are very sensitive to high NaCl concentrations in soil and water, which produces water deficit, ion toxicity, nutrient imbalance and oxidative stress [2,4,5,6,7]. One of the big challenges of agrobiotechnology is to develop crops better adapted to salt stress. The adaptation mechanisms to salt stress require the activity of effector molecules that lead to tolerance

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