Abstract
Plants can perceive environmental changes and respond to external stressors. Here, we show that OsNAC2, a member of the NAC transcription factor family, was strongly induced by ABA and osmotic stressors such as drought and high salt. With reduced yields under drought conditions at the flowering stage, OsNAC2 overexpression lines had lower resistance to high salt and drought conditions. RNAi plants showed enhanced tolerance to high salinity and drought stress at both the vegetative and flowering stages. Furthermore, RNAi plants had improved yields after drought stress. A microarray assay indicated that many ABA-dependent stress-related genes were down-regulated in OsNAC2 overexpression lines. We further confirmed that OsNAC2 directly binds the promoters of LATE EMBRYOGENESIS ABUNDANT 3 (OsLEA3) and Stress-Activated Protein Kinases 1 (OsSAPK1), two marker genes in the abiotic stress and ABA response pathways, respectively. Our results suggest that in rice OsNAC2 regulates both abiotic stress responses and ABA-mediated responses, and acts at the junction between the ABA and abiotic stress pathways.
Highlights
Drought, high salinity, and low temperature are major stress factors affecting plant growth[1]
The OsNAC2 transcript accumulated within 2 hours under ABA, dehydration, and NaCl treatments, with peak expression reached after 12 hours
Most NAC genes have been reported to work as positive stress response transcription factors (TFs)
Summary
High salinity, and low temperature are major stress factors affecting plant growth[1]. The stress signals are sent to transcription factors (TFs) involved in stress responses that trigger the expression of downstream stress response genes Through this mechanism, plants reduce the negative influence of abiotic stressors by activating stress tolerance reactions[4]. NAC family TFs are mainly involved in plant growth, development, and biotic or abiotic stress responses. (b) GUS staining of ProOsNAC2:GUS seedlings under NaCl (150 mM) treatment for 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d and 5d. (c) GUS staining of ProOsNAC2:GUS seedlings under air dry treatment from 0 h to 2d. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing the rice gene OsNAC063 had enhanced high salt and drought tolerance[34] while ATAF1 may negatively control functional genes in drought stress[35]. Been published outlining the role of OsNAC2 in abiotic stress responses
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
