Abstract
Histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein 1 (HINT1) is highly conserved in many species and plays important roles in various biological processes. However, little is known about the responses of HINT1 to abiotic stress in plants. Salt and drought stress are major limiting factors for plant growth and development, and their negative effects on crop productivity may threaten the world’s food supply. Previously, we identified a maize gene, Zm-HINT1, which encodes a 138-amino-acid protein containing conserved domains including the HIT motif, helical regions, and β-strands. Here, we demonstrate that overexpression of Zm-HINT1 in Arabidopsis confers salt and drought tolerance to plants. Zm-HINT1 significantly regulated Na+ and K+ accumulation in plants under salt stress. The improve tolerance characteristics of Arabidopsis plants that were overexpressing Zm-HINT1 led to increased survival rates after salt and drought treatments. Compared with control plants, those plants that overexpressed Zm-HINT1 showed increased proline content and superoxide dismutase activity, as well as lower malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide accumulation under salt and drought treatments. The expression patterns of stress-responsive genes in Arabidopsis plants that overexpressed Zm-HINT1 significantly differed from those in control lines. Taken together, these results suggest that Zm-HINT1 has potential applications in breeding and genetic engineering strategies that are designed to produce new crop varieties with improved salt and drought tolerance.
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Abbreviations
- ABA:
-
Abscisic acid
- DREB:
-
Dehydration responsive element binding protein
- MDA:
-
Malondialdehyde
- PEG:
-
Polyethylene glycol
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- SOD:
-
Superoxide dismutase
- WRKY:
-
Transcription factors containing a conserved WRKY domain
- H2O2 :
-
Hydrogen peroxide
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This work was supported by a grant from the Nation Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31101158 and 31471503).
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XZ and PL performed all of the experiments and analyzed the data. LT prepared the manuscript. SW contributed to the writing of the manuscript. ZT analyzed the data. YC and LW designed and supervised the project, and modified the manuscript.
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Zu, X., Liu, P., Wang, S. et al. Overexpression of Zm-HINT1 Confers Salt and Drought Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Mol Biol Rep 36, 310–325 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-018-1081-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-018-1081-3