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Overexpression of maize chloride channel gene ZmCLC-d in Arabidopsis thaliana improved its stress resistance

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

In plant cells, anion channels and transporters are essential for key functions. Members of the chloride channel (CLC) family located in intracellular organelles are required for anion accumulation, pH adjustment, and salt tolerance. Here, we cloned a maize (Zea mays L.) CLC gene, named ZmCLC-d, and found that its transcription was up-regulated under cold, drought, salt, and heat stresses, and after hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. The overexpression of ZmCLC-d in Arabidopsis conferred tolerance to cold, drought, and salt stresses; this tolerance was primarily displayed by an increased germination rate, root length, plant survival rate, antioxidant enzyme (catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase) activities, and a reduced accumulation of Cl− in transgenic plants as compared with wild type (WT) plants. The accumulation of H2O2 and superoxide anion in leaves of the ZmCLC-d-overexpressing plants is much less than that of the WT plants. The expressions of some stress related genes, such as CBF1, CBF2, CBF3, DREB2A, and RCI2A, increased to a greater extent in the ZmCLC-d-overexpressing plants than in the WT. Our results strongly suggest that ZmCLC-d played an important role in stress tolerance.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

CAT:

catalase

CLC:

chloride channel

H2O2 :

hydrogen peroxide

MDA:

malondialdehyde

O2 − :

superoxide anion

POD:

peroxidase

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

SOD:

superoxide dismutase

TGN:

trans-Golgi network

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Plant Science, Jilin University, 5333 Xi’an Road, 130062, Changchun, P.R. China

    S. Wang, S. Z. Su, Y. Wu, S. P. Li, X. H. Shan, H. K. Liu, S. Wang & Y. P. Yuan

Authors
  1. S. Wang
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  2. S. Z. Su
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  3. Y. Wu
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  4. S. P. Li
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  5. X. H. Shan
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  6. H. K. Liu
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  7. S. Wang
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  8. Y. P. Yuan
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Correspondence to Y. P. Yuan.

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Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology 863 Program of China (2011AA10A103) and Science and Technology Development projects of Jilin Province (20126030), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.31100192). The first two authors contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, S., Su, S.Z., Wu, Y. et al. Overexpression of maize chloride channel gene ZmCLC-d in Arabidopsis thaliana improved its stress resistance. Biol Plant 59, 55–64 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-014-0468-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-014-0468-8

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