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Arabidopsis ATAF1 enhances the tolerance to salt stress and ABA in transgenic rice

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Abstract

NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC2) transcription factors are plant-specific and have diverse functions in many plant developmental processes and responses to stress. In our previous study, we found that the expression of ATAF1, an Arabidopsis NAC gene, was obviously induced by high-salinity and abscisic acid (ABA). The overexpression of ATAF1 in Arabidopsis increased plant sensitivity to ABA and salt. To investigate whether ATAF1 affects the sensitivity of monocotyledon plant to salt and ABA, ATAF1 transgenic rice were generated. Transgenic rice exhibited significantly improved salt tolerance and insensitivity to ABA. The results of real-time PCR showed that ATAF1 overexpression in rice elevated the transcription of OsLEA3, OsSalT1 and OsPM1, which are stress-associated genes. Our results indicate that ATAF1 plays an important role in response to salt stress and may be utilized to improve the salt tolerance of rice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, National Center for Plant Gene Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 1 West Beichen Road, Beijing, 100101, China

    Yaorong Wu

  2. College of Agriculture/The Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-agriculture, Shihezi University, Beisi Road, Shihezi, 832003, Xinjiang, China

    Yongchang Liu & Jie Sun

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  1. Yongchang Liu
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  2. Jie Sun
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  3. Yaorong Wu
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Correspondence to Yaorong Wu.

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Liu, Y., Sun, J. & Wu, Y. Arabidopsis ATAF1 enhances the tolerance to salt stress and ABA in transgenic rice. J Plant Res 129, 955–962 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-016-0833-0

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