The Caucasian Clover Gene TaMYC2 Responds to Abiotic Stress and Improves Tolerance by Increasing the Activity of Antioxidant Enzymes.

Yihang Zhao,Yupeng Yang,Lingdong Meng,Guowen Cui,Zewang Ma,Jingwen Jiang,Xiaomeng Zhang,Xiujie Yin

doi:10.3390/genes13020329

Abstract

Abiotic stress affects metabolic processes in plants and restricts plant growth and development. In this experiment, Caucasian clover (Trifolium ambiguum M. Bieb.) was used as a material, and the CDS of TaMYC2, which is involved in regulating the response to abiotic stress, was cloned. The CDS of TaMYC2 was 726 bp in length and encoded 241 amino acids. The protein encoded by TaMYC2 was determined to be unstable, be highly hydrophilic, and contain 23 phosphorylation sites. Subcellular localization results showed that TaMYC2 was localized in the nucleus. TaMYC2 responded to salt, alkali, cold, and drought stress and could be induced by IAA, GA3, and MeJA. By analyzing the gene expression and antioxidant enzyme activity in plants before and after stress, we found that drought and cold stress could induce the expression of TaMYC2 and increase the antioxidant enzyme activity. TaMYC2 could also induce the expression of ROS scavenging-related and stress-responsive genes and increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes, thus improving the ability of plants to resist stress. The results of this experiment provide references for subsequent in-depth exploration of both the function of TaMYC2 in and the molecular mechanism underlying the resistance of Caucasian clover.

Highlights

Caucasian clover (T. ambiguum B.) is a perennial legume with a long crown [1,2]
RT-PCR technology was used to amplify the coding DNA sequence (CDS) of TaMYC2 (Figure S3c), and the amplified products were cloned into a T vector following gel recovery
By measuring the physiological indicators of WT and transgenic tobacco under cold and drought stress, we found that the TaMYC2-overexpressing plants presented a lower degree of membrane lipid peroxidation and higher antioxidant enzyme activity than the WT plants did

Summary

Introduction

Caucasian clover (T. ambiguum B.) is a perennial legume with a long crown [1,2]. This species is native to the cold Russian Caucasus, eastern Turkey, and northern Iran [3]. Caucasian clover can be cloned and propagated via rhizomes [4,5]. This species has strong adaptability and good resistance to drought, cold, and grazing [6]. Because of the harsh natural environment in which this species originated, the cold resistance of Caucasian clover is relatively strong [7]. Our research group jointly used RNA-Seq and PacBio high-throughput sequencing technology to sequence the transcriptome of Caucasian clover and identified the genes related to the rhizome development [8]; this information in turn provided a rich genetic resource for the study of rhizome characteristics and the regulatory mechanism of stress resistance in Caucasian clover

Methods

Results

Conclusion