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Central role of 70-kDa heat shock protein in adaptation of plants to drought stress

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Cell Stress and Chaperones Aims and scope

Abstract

The 70-kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70s) are a conserved class of chaperones that play critical roles during the normal life cycle of plants. HSP70s are particularly involved in the regulation of biotic and abiotic stress responses. In this paper, the potential roles of this protein were investigated. A reverse genetic approach was employed for transient silencing of hsp70 gene in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to evaluate different growth and physiological parameters under normal conditions and during the response to drought stress. A combined ANOVA (analysis of variance) and HCA (hierarchical clustering analysis) showed that hsp70 silencing led to severe growth retardation and mortality, significant membrane damage and leakage, decline in relative water content, low rate of pigment accumulation, and reduced antioxidant enzyme activity under normal and drought stress conditions. Among the different parameters, proline was the only trait that was unaffected by gene silencing and accumulated by similar amounts to that of nonsilent plants. In conclusion, HSP70 played critical roles in maintaining the cellular homeostasis of plants during adaptation to drought and under normal plant life conditions. It was speculated that proline was, to some extent, involved in improving the loss of protein folding or function resulting from HSP70 deficiency, and played a crucial role in the adaptation of plants on exposure to stress.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

AsA:

Ascorbic acid

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

Car:

Carotenoid

CAT:

Catalase

Chl:

Chlorophyll

CRD:

Completely randomized design

DW:

Dry weight

EC:

Electrical conductivity

EL:

Electrolyte leakage

FW:

Fresh weight

GFP:

Green fluorescent protein

HCA:

Hierarchical clustering analysis

HSP:

Heat shock proteins

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

NaOCl:

Sodium hypochlorite

NBT:

Nitro blue tetrazolium

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

RWC:

Relative water content

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TBA:

Thiobarbituric acid

TCA:

Trichloroacetic acid

TRV:

Tobacco rattle virus

TW:

Turgid weight

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Funding

This work was financially supported by graduate study of University of Kashan under Grant No. 572212/15.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Payame Noor University, PO Box 19395-3697, Tehran, Iran

    Peyman Aghaie

  2. Biotechnology Division, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Kashan, Kashan, 8731753153, Iran

    Seyed Ali Hosseini Tafreshi

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  1. Peyman Aghaie
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Correspondence to Seyed Ali Hosseini Tafreshi.

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Aghaie, P., Tafreshi, S.A.H. Central role of 70-kDa heat shock protein in adaptation of plants to drought stress. Cell Stress and Chaperones 25, 1071–1081 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12192-020-01144-7

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