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ABA participates in salt stress-induced anthocyanin accumulation by stimulating the expression of LrMYB1 in Lycium ruthenicum Murr.

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Abstract

Lycium ruthenicum Murr. (L. ruthenicum) is a valuable medicinal source with a high content of anthocyanin. Most of the previous study were focused on the regulation process of anthocyanin biosynthesis in fruit development, the mechanism of anthocyanin accumulation in L. ruthenicum seedlings has rarely been reported. In the present study, anthocyanin accumulation in L. ruthenicum seedlings induced by salt stress was studied, and the expression of LrMYB1 and phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) played a role in this process. Our results showed that LrMYB1 was stimulated by salt stress, and the expression of LrMYB1 also had a positive correlation with the expression of LrDFR and LrANS, which play key roles in anthocyanin biosynthesis in L. ruthenicum, suggesting that LrMYB1 is a critical regulator in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Compared with the wild-type seedlings, LrMYB1 RNA interference lines accumulated less anthocyanins under salt stress, which confirmed the role of LrMYB1 in anthocyanin biosynthesis in the L. ruthenicum seedlings response to salt stress. Furthermore, ABA content was sharply increased in L. ruthenicum seedlings after 1/2 days of salt stress. Exogenous ABA could also stimulate the expression of LrMYB1 and structural genes in anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway but could not induce more anthocyanin biosynthesis and structural gene upregulation in the LrMYB1 RNA interference lines. These results may imply that ABA could induce anthocyanin biosynthesis under salt stress by upregulating LrMYB1. This study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms of anthocyanin biosynthesis in L. ruthenicum seedlings and extend the understanding of the regulatory mechanism of MYB transcription factor and ABA on anthocyanin accumulation in L. ruthenicum.

Key message

We provide new details regarding the molecular mechanism by which ABA participate in anthocyanin biosynthesis via modulate the expression of LrMYB1 in Lycium ruthenicum Murr. seedlings response to salt stress.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to professor Jianhua Zhao, Wolfberry Engineering Research Institute, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, provided plant materials analyzed the expression patterns of LrMYB1 in different parts of L. ruthenicum plants.

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, North Minzu University [2019KJ19]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [32160392]; Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Key Research and Development Project [2021BEF02002], High-level talent selection and training plan of North Minzu University [2019BJLZ02].

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  1. Jing Wang and Muyan Jiang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China

    Jing Wang, Muyan Jiang, Zhuxin Nie, Ai Guo, Yuqing Wei, Kaowen Zhang, Jianli Liu, Jun Zhou & Huijun Zhao

  2. Key Laboratory of Ecological Protection of Agro-pastoral Ecotones in the Yellow River Basin, National Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Yinchuan, 750021, China

    Jing Wang, Yuqing Wei, Kaowen Zhang, Jianli Liu, Jun Zhou & Huijun Zhao

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  1. Jing Wang
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Contributions

JW and HZ designed the research and experiments. JW, MJ and ZN performed the experiments. AG and JL conducted the data analysis. KZ, JZ and YW revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jing Wang or Huijun Zhao.

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11240_2022_2325_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary file1 Fig. S1 The expression patterns of anthocyanin biosynthesis structural genes induced by salt stress for 0 d to 5 d assessed by qRT-PCR. (A) The relative expression levels of anthocyanin biosynthesis genes LrC4H, Lr4CL, LrCHS, LrF3H, LrF3’H, LrF3’5’H, LrDFR, LrANS, and LrUFGT in L. ruthenicum seedlings induced by salt for 0 d to 5 d. (B) Pearson’s correlation coefficient between the relative expression levels of LrDFR, LrANS and LrMYB1 at P < 0.01. (TIF 184899 kb)

11240_2022_2325_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Supplementary file2 Fig. S2 The identification of positive transgenic RNAi lines. (A) The adventitious buds in selective medium. (B) The T-DNA region of RNA interference plasmid pART27:LrMYB1. (C) PCR verification of eleven transgenic seedlings selected by kanamycin. M: DL5000 marker. Line +: pART27:LrMYB1 vector (positive control). Sample 1-11: samples of transgenic seedlings. Line -: sample of WT seedling. The products were 35S sequence, 724 bp. (D) Southern hybridization of 5 PCR-positive seedlings. M: DNA molecular weight marker. Line +: PCR product of kanamycin resistance gene (positive control). Line -: sample of WT seedling (negative control). Line 1-5: sample of PCR positive transgenic seedlings. (TIF 36289 kb)

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Wang, J., Jiang, M., Nie, Z. et al. ABA participates in salt stress-induced anthocyanin accumulation by stimulating the expression of LrMYB1 in Lycium ruthenicum Murr.. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 151, 11–21 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-022-02325-1

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