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Arabidopsis AtNAP functions as a negative regulator via repression of AREB1 in salt stress response

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Abstract

Main conclusion

AtNAP , an Arabidopsis NAC transcription factor family gene, functions as a negative regulator via transcriptional repression of AREB1 in salt stress response.

AtNAP is an NAC family transcription factor in Arabidopsis and is known to be a positive regulator of senescence. However, its exact function and underlying molecular mechanism in stress responses are not well known. Here, we investigated functional roles of AtNAP in salt stress response. AtNAP expression significantly increased at the seedling stage, with higher expression in both shoots and roots under NaCl, mannitol, and ABA treatments. T-DNA insertional loss-of-function mutants of AtNAP were more tolerant to salt stress than wild type (WT), whereas AtNAP-overexpressing transgenic plants (OXs) were more sensitive to salt stress than WT during germination, seedling development, and mature plant stage. Transcript levels of stress-responsive genes in the ABA-dependent pathway, such as AREB1, RD20, and RD29B, were significantly higher and lower in atnap mutants and AtNAP OXs, respectively, than in WT under salt stress conditions, suggesting that AtNAP might negatively regulate the expression of those genes under salt stress conditions. Indeed, AtNAP repressed the promoter activity of AREB1 under normal and salt stress conditions. These results indicate that AtNAP functions as a negative regulator in the salt stress response. Our results, together with previous studies, suggest that AtNAP functions as a negative regulator in osmotic stress responses, whereas it functions as a positive regulator in senescence.

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Abbreviations

DAG:

Days after germination

DAS:

Days after sowing

EF1α:

Translation elongation factor 1A

GAPc:

Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase

LD:

Long-day

MS:

Murashige and Skoog

OX:

Overexpressing transgenic plant

SD:

Short-day

WT:

Wild type

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a 2-year Research Grant of Pusan National University.

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    1. Department of Molecular Biology, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735, South Korea

      Hye-Yeon Seok, Dong-Hyuk Woo, Linh Vu Nguyen, Huong T. Tran, Vaishali N. Tarte, Syed Muhammad Muntazir Mehdi, Sun-Young Lee & Yong-Hwan Moon

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    1. Hye-Yeon Seok
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    2. Dong-Hyuk Woo
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    3. Linh Vu Nguyen
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    Hye-Yeon Seok and Dong-Hyuk Woo equally contributed to this paper.

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    Seok, HY., Woo, DH., Nguyen, L.V. et al. Arabidopsis AtNAP functions as a negative regulator via repression of AREB1 in salt stress response. Planta 245, 329–341 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-016-2609-0

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