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ABA functions in low phosphate-induced anthocyanin accumulation through the transcription factor ABI5 in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

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ABI5 functions in ABA-mediated anthocyanin accumulation in plant response to low phosphate.

Abstract

Low phosphate (LP)-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis and accumulation play an important role in plant adaptive response to phosphate starvation conditions. However, whether and how the stress phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) participates in LP-induced anthocyanin accumulation remain elusive. Here, we report that ABA is required for LP-induced anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Disrupting ABA DEFICIENT2 (ABA2), a key ABA-biosynthetic gene, or BETA-GLUCOSIDASE1 (BG1), a major gene implicated in converting conjugated ABA to active ABA, significantly impairs LP-induced anthocyanin accumulation, as LP-induced expression of the anthocyanin-biosynthetic genes Chalcone Synthase (CHS) is dampened in the aba2 and bg1 mutant. In addition, LP-induced anthocyanin accumulation is defective in the mutants of ABA signaling pathway, including ABA receptors, ABA Insensitive2, and the transcription factors ABA Insensitive5 (ABI5), suggesting a role of ABI5 in ABA-mediated upregulation of anthocyanin-biosynthetic genes in plant response to LP. Indeed, LP-induced expression of CHS is repressed in the abi5-7 mutant but further promoted in the ABI5-overexpressing plants compared to the wild-type. Moreover, ABI5 can bind to and transcriptionally activate CHS, and the defectiveness of LP-induced anthocyanin accumulation in abi5-7 can be restored by overexpressing CHS. Collectively, our findings illustrates that ABI5 functions in ABA-mediated LP-induced anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful reviews and constructive suggestions which have improved this paper. The authors are grateful to Prof. Xia Li (Huazhong Agricultural University, China) for the abi2-1C mutant seed; Prof. Yingfang Zhu (Henan University, China) for the pyr1pyl12458 (hexpyl) mutant seed. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (#32322010), Hainan Province Science and Technology Special Fund (ZDYF2022XDNY251), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (#32260400).

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China,32322010,Wen-Cheng Liu, 32260400, Hong-Mei Yuan, Hainan Province Science and Technology Special Fund, ZDYF2022XDNY251, Hong-Mei Yuan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Sanya, 572025, China

    Ru-Feng Song & Hong-Mei Yuan

  2. State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China

    Xiao-Yu Hu & Wen-Cheng Liu

  3. Sanya Institute, Henan University, Sanya, 572025, China

    Wen-Cheng Liu

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  1. Ru-Feng Song
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  2. Xiao-Yu Hu
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H-MY and W-CL conceived and designed the research. R-FS and X-YH conducted the study. H-MY and W-CL analyzed the data and wrote the article.

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Correspondence to Wen-Cheng Liu or Hong-Mei Yuan.

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Communicated by Sheng Ying.

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Song, RF., Hu, XY., Liu, WC. et al. ABA functions in low phosphate-induced anthocyanin accumulation through the transcription factor ABI5 in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell Rep 43, 55 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-024-03146-6

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