Abstract
Expansin is a vital plant cell wall protein that loosens cell wall components and increases cell flexibility. This study aimed to evaluate its association with salt stress defense. The results showed that an expansin gene SmEXPA13 was express induced in salt conditions; the expression was 9.8% and 29.1% higher than the control in the roots and leaves of the salt-tolerant Salix matsudana variety 9901. The cloned fragment was introduced into the Nicotiana tabacum L. plants via leaf disc method. The three determined transgenic tobacco lines showed better performance under salt treatment than wild-type plants. The relative electrical conductivity and malondialdehyde content of the transgenic lines was averagely 24.36% and 26.4% lower than the wild-type plants in 50 mM/L NaCl condition, and 26.92% and 19.57% lower in 100 mM/L NaCl condition. Absorption and accumulation of Na+ were significantly decreased in the transgenic plants compared to wild-type plants, while that of K+ was increased, indicating SmEXPA13 efficiently balanced the Na+/K+ levels. SmEXPA13 was recognized as a gene resource for plant salt tolerance breeding.
Key message
Over-expressing an expansin gene SmEXPA13 from the salt tolerant willow variety 9901 in tobacco plants showed enhanced salt tolerance that would contribute a new insight to salt tolerance mechanism by cell wall contro and be an important gene resource for plant molecular breeding.
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Data Availability
Sequence data that support the findings of this study have been deposited in the GenBank with the primary accession code BankIt2643366 SmEXP13 OP819081.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank National Natural Science Foundation of China (#31870648) for funding support.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Junkang Zhang and Ruixia Yang performed material preparation and research; Yan Wang, Xue Wang, and Lei Wang participated in the physiological index tests; Junkang Zhang, Ruixia Yang and Jichen Xu wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Communicated by Sergio J. Ochatt.
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Zhang, J., Yang, R., Wang, Y. et al. The expansin gene SmEXPA13 in Salix matsudana in association with plant salt tolerance. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 154, 219–225 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-023-02550-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-023-02550-2