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Suppression of SlNAC1 reduces heat resistance in tomato plants

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

NAC (NAM, ATAF1,2, and CUC2) transcription factors play an important role in the responses of plants to various environmental stresses. To investigate the function of SlNAC1, which was found to be a member of the ATAF subfamily in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants under heat stress conditions, transgenic tomato plants were generated using an antisense technology. After a treatment at 40 °C for 48 h, in comparison with wild-type (WT) plants, the transgenic plants were severely wilted and exhibited a lower net photosynthetic rate and a maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II. Moreover, the transgenic plants displayed a higher ion leakage and malondialdehyde content and a lower proline content. The content of reactive oxygen species (superoxide anion radicals and hydrogen peroxide) were higher, and activities of ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase lower in the transgenic plants than in the WT plants. The transgenic plants also exhibited a lower accumulation of the transcripts of some heat shock protein genes (Hsp70, Hsp90, sHsp17.4, and sHsp17.6). All of these results suggest that the suppression of SlNAC1 could obviously reduce heat resistance in the tomato plants, and this indicates that SlNAC1 played an important role in the thermal tolerance of the tomato plants.

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Abbreviations

APX:

ascorbate peroxidase

Fv/Fm :

variable to maximum chlorophyll fluorescence ratio (the maximal photochemical efficiency of PS II)

HSGs :

heat shock genes

HSPs:

heat shock proteins

H2O2 :

hydrogen peroxide

MDA:

malondialdehyde

O2 ·− :

superoxide anion radical

P5CS:

pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase

PFD:

photon flux density

PN :

net photosynthetic rate

PS:

photosystem

REC:

relative electric conductance

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

sHSPs:

small heat shock proteins

TBA:

thiobarbituric acid

TCA:

trichloroacetic acid

WT:

wild type

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong, 271018, P.R. China

    X. -Q. Liang, N. -N. Ma, G. -D. Wang, X. Meng, X. -Z. Ai & Q. -W. Meng

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  1. X. -Q. Liang
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  2. N. -N. Ma
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  3. G. -D. Wang
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  4. X. Meng
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  5. X. -Z. Ai
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  6. Q. -W. Meng
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Correspondence to Q. -W. Meng.

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Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the State Key Basic Research and Development Plan of China (2009CB118505) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (31171474, 31371553). The first two authors contributed equally to this work.

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Liang, X.Q., Ma, N.N., Wang, G.D. et al. Suppression of SlNAC1 reduces heat resistance in tomato plants. Biol Plant 59, 92–98 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-014-0477-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-014-0477-7

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