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LcMKK, a MAPK kinase from Lycium chinense, confers cadmium tolerance in transgenic tobacco by transcriptional upregulation of ethylene responsive transcription factor gene

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Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is a highly toxic element to plants. Ethylene is an important phytohormone in the regulation of plant growth, development and stress response. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation has been observed in plants exposed to Cd stress and was suggested to be involved in ethylene biosynthesis. We hypothesized that there may be a link between MAPK cascades and ethylene signalling in Cd-stressed plants. To test this hypothesis, the expression of LcMKK, LchERF and LcGSH1 genes, endogenous ethylene accumulation, GSH content and Cd concentration in Lycium chinense with or without Cd stress treatment were studied. Our results showed that LcMKK gene expression can be induced by the treatment of Cd in L. chinense. The transgenic tobacco expressing 35S::LcMKK showed greater tolerance to Cd stress and enhanced expression of NtERF and NtGSH1 genes, indicating that LcMKK is associated with the enhanced expression level of ERF and GSH synthesis-related genes in tobacco. We also found that endogenous ethylene and GSH content can be induced by Cd stress in L. chinense, and inhibited by cotreatment with PD98059, an inhibitor of MAPK kinase. Evidences presented here suggest that under Cd stress, GSH accumulation occurred at least partially by enhanced LcMKK gene expression and the ethylene signal transduction pathways might be involved in this accumulation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31401391), Tianjin Research Programme of Application Foundation and Advanced Technology (no. 15JCQNJC14700) and the Scientific Research Foundation for the returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People’s Republic of China

    CHUNFENG GUAN, JING JI, CHAO JIN & GANG WANG

  2. Department of Medical Genetics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300072, People’s Republic of China

    XIAOZHOU LI

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  1. CHUNFENG GUAN
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  2. JING JI
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Correspondence to JING JI or GANG WANG.

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Corresponding editor: JITENDRA KHURANA

[Guan C., Ji J., Li X., Jin C. and Wang G. 2016 LcMKK, a MAPK kinase from Lycium chinense, confers cadmium tolerance in transgenic tobacco by transcriptional upregulation of ethylene responsive transcription factor gene. J. Genet. 95, xx–xx]

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GUAN, C., JI, J., LI, X. et al. LcMKK, a MAPK kinase from Lycium chinense, confers cadmium tolerance in transgenic tobacco by transcriptional upregulation of ethylene responsive transcription factor gene. J Genet 95, 875–885 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-016-0710-6

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