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Overexpression of MeDREB1D confers tolerance to both drought and cold stresses in transgenic Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important tropical crop with extraordinary tolerance to drought stress but few reports on it. In this study, MeDREB1D was significantly and positively induced by drought stress. Two allelic variants of the gene named MeDREB1D(R-2) and MeDREB1D(Y-3) were identified. Overexpressing MeDREB1D(R-2) and MeDREB1D(Y-3) in Arabidopsis resulted in stronger tolerance to drought and cold stresses. Under drought stress, transgenic plants had more biomass, higher survival rates and less MDA content than wild-type plants. Under cold stress, transgenic plants also had higher survival rates than wild-type plants. To further characterize the molecular function of MeDREB1D, we conducted an RNA-Seq analysis of transgenic and wild-type Arabidopsis plants. The results showed that the Arabidopsis plants overexpressing MeDREB1D led to changes in downstream genes. Several POD genes, which may play a vital role in drought and cold tolerance, were up-regulated in transgenic plants. In brief, these results suggest that MeDREB1D can simultaneously improve plant tolerance to drought and cold stresses.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China NSFC-CGIAR Project (Grant No. 31561143012), the Hainan Province Innovative Research Team Foundation (Grant No. 2016CXTD), and the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31501378).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China

    Yiling Yang & Bin Wang

  2. Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, Hainan, China

    Yiling Yang, Wenbin Liao, Xiaoling Yu, Bin Wang, Ming Peng & Mengbin Ruan

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  1. Yiling Yang
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  2. Wenbin Liao
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  3. Xiaoling Yu
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  4. Bin Wang
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  5. Ming Peng
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Correspondence to Ming Peng or Mengbin Ruan.

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Communicated by Y Wang.

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11738_2016_2258_MOESM1_ESM.pptx

Fig. S1. MeDREB1D(R - 2) overexpressing plants performed dwarf phenotype and flowering delay. (A) The size of one-month-old WT, MeDREB1D(Y-3) and MeDREB1D(R-2) transgenic plants. (B) The size of leaves from one-month-old WT, MeDREB1D(Y-3) and MeDREB1D(R-2) transgenic plants. (C) Development of flowering stage of two-months-old WT, MeDREB1D(Y-3) and MeDREB1D(R-2) transgenic plants (PPTX 4967 kb)

11738_2016_2258_MOESM2_ESM.pptx

Fig. S2. Seedlings development of the WT and transgenic Arabidopsis under 15 % PEG treatment. (A) Seedling development of WT and MeDREB1D(R-2) overexpressing lines of Arabidopsis on MS agar medium and MS supplemented with 15 % PEG. (B) Seedling height and root length of WT and MeDREB1D(R-2) transgenic plants on MS agar medium and MS supplemented with 15 % PEG. (C) Seedling development of WT and MeDREB1D(Y-3) overexpressing lines of Arabidopsis on MS agar medium and MS supplemented with 15 % PEG. (D) Seedling height and root length of WT and MeDREB1D(Y-3) transgenic plants on MS agar medium and MS supplemented with 15 % PEG. Error bars show standard error for three independent replicates. Different letters represent a significant difference at P < 0.05 (PPTX 2426 kb)

11738_2016_2258_MOESM3_ESM.pptx

Fig. S3. Analysis of “Photosynthesis-antenna proteins” and “Photosynthesis” pathways from RNA-Seq in MeDREB1D(R - 2) and MeDREB1D(Y - 3) overexpressing plants. WT was taken as control for transgenic lines pathway. (A). “Photosynthesis-antenna proteins” pathway in MeDREB1D(R-2) overexpressing plants. (B). “Photosynthesis-antenna proteins” pathway in MeDREB1D(Y-3) overexpressing plants.(C) “Photosynthesis” pathway in MeDREB1D(R-2) overexpressing plants. (D). “Photosynthesis” pathway in MeDREB1D(Y-3) overexpressing plants. Green boxes represent up-regulated genes in the pathway. Red box represents down-regulated gene (PPTX 263 kb)

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Yang, Y., Liao, W., Yu, X. et al. Overexpression of MeDREB1D confers tolerance to both drought and cold stresses in transgenic Arabidopsis . Acta Physiol Plant 38, 243 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-016-2258-8

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