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AsTal1 from Aquilaria sinensis regulates ABA signaling-mediated seed germination and root growth in Nicotiana benthamiana

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Abstract

Transaldolase, the key enzyme of the pentose-phosphate pathway, plays an important role in plant growth and defense. Seed germination is a key factor that influences the cultivation of Aquilaria sinensis, the plant source of agarwood, which is widely used as a traditional medicine, perfume and incenses. However, little is known about the function of transaldolase in abscisic acid (ABA) signaling-mediated seed germination. In the present study, the full-length AsTal1 gene was isolated and characterized from A. sinensis calli. Sublocalization analysis indicated that AsTal1 was localized in the chloroplast. In addition, phenotypic analysis indicated that AsTal1-overexpressing Nicotiana benthamiana (OE) plants were less sensitive to ABA during seed germination and root growth than wild-type (WT) plants. Overexpression of AsTal1 regulated the expression of genes involved in ABA metabolism, biosynthesis and signal transduction under ABA treatment. In addition, expression of NbRbohA and NbRbohB was inhibited in the overexpression lines, whereas the abundance and activities of the antioxidative enzymes were higher in the transgenic plants than in the WT lines after ABA treatment. Taken together, our results indicated that AsTal1 regulates ABA signaling-mediated seed germination and root growth by regulating the expression of genes involved in the ABA signaling pathway and the enzymes responsive to ROS.

Key message

AsTal1 isolated from Aquilaria sinensis regulates ABA response during seed germination and root growth by regulating the expression of genes involved in the ABA signaling pathway and the enzymes responsive to ROS in Nicotiana benthamiana.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

NAA:

Naphtha acetic acid

6-BA:

6-Benzyladenim

2,4-d :

Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

KT:

Kinetin

TAL:

Transaldolase

OE:

Overexpression lines

WT:

Wild type

OPPP:

Oxidative pentose-phosphate pathway

NADPH:

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate

G6PDH:

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase

ABI3:

ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE 3

ABI5:

ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE 5

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

MS:

Murashige and Skoog

GFP:

Green fluorescent protein

APX:

Peroxidase

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

POD:

Peroxidase

NCED:

9-Cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Science Foundation of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (2019-JYB-JS-014).

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Author notes

  1. Yuqing Rong and Tiezheng Li authors are equally contributed to this work. Xiaohui Wang  and Pengfei Tu are corresponding authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Modern Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, People’s Republic of China

    Yuqing Rong, Tiezheng Li, Xiao Liu, Shepo Shi, Xiaohui Wang & Pengfei Tu

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  1. Yuqing Rong
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  2. Tiezheng Li
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  3. Xiao Liu
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  4. Shepo Shi
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Contributions

YQR and TZL carried out the experiments and wrote the draft of the paper. XL and SPS participated in the preparation of the manuscript. XHW and PFT designed the research and supervised the work throughout. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pengfei Tu.

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Communicated by Jochen Kumlehn.

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Rong, Y., Li, T., Liu, X. et al. AsTal1 from Aquilaria sinensis regulates ABA signaling-mediated seed germination and root growth in Nicotiana benthamiana. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 147, 97–106 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-021-02110-6

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