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A maize phytochrome-interacting factor 3 improves drought and salt stress tolerance in rice

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Abstract

Phytochrome-interacting factor 3 (PIF3) activates light-responsive transcriptional network genes in coordination with the circadian clock and plant hormones to modulate plant growth and development. However, little is known of the roles PIF3 plays in the responses to abiotic stresses. In this study, the cloning and functional characterization of the ZmPIF3 gene encoding a maize PIF3 protein is reported. Subcellular localization revealed the presence of ZmPIF3 in the cell nucleus. Expression patterns revealed that ZmPIF3 is expressed strongly in leaves. This expression responds to polyethylene glycol, NaCl stress, and abscisic acid application, but not to cold stress. ZmPIF3 under the control of the ubiquitin promoter was introduced into rice. No difference in growth and development between ZmPIF3 transgenic and wild-type plants was observed under normal growth conditions. However, ZmPIF3 transgenic plants were more tolerant to dehydration and salt stresses. ZmPIF3 transgenic plants had increased relative water content, chlorophyll content, and chlorophyll fluorescence, as well as significantly enhanced cell membrane stability under stress conditions. The over-expression of ZmPIF3 increased the expression of stress-responsive genes, such as Rab16D, DREB2A, OSE2, PP2C, Rab21, BZ8 and P5CS, as detected by real-time PCR analysis. Taken together, these results improve our understanding of the role ZmPIF3 plays in abiotic stresses signaling pathways; our findings also indicate that ZmPIF3 regulates the plant response to drought and salt stresses.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31101093); Natural science Research Project for Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province (No. 11KJB210005); Certificate of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Grant (2013M541737); Genetically Modified Organisms Breeding Major Projects (2014ZX0800205B). We also thank another financial support for the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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    1. College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, 88 South University Ave, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

      Yong Gao, Wei Jiang, Yi Dai, Ning Xiao, Hua Li, Yi Lu, Meiqin Wu, Xiaoyi Tao & Jianmin Chen

    2. Jiangsu Key Laboratories of Crop Genetics and Physiology and Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

      Yong Gao, Wei Jiang, Yi Dai, Ning Xiao, Changquan Zhang, Hua Li, Yi Lu, Meiqin Wu, Xiaoyi Tao, Dexiang Deng & Jianmin Chen

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    Yong Gao and Wei Jiang have contributed equally to this work.

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    Gao, Y., Jiang, W., Dai, Y. et al. A maize phytochrome-interacting factor 3 improves drought and salt stress tolerance in rice. Plant Mol Biol 87, 413–428 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-015-0288-z

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