Journal Article

Overexpression of the trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase family gene AtTPPF improves the drought tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana

Wang, Qiongli, Yang, Jiao, Zhu, Hong, Lin, Qingfang, Chen, Zhiyong, Dao, Yihang, Wang, Kai

2019

Overview

Background Trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatases (TPPs), which are encoded by members of the TPP gene family, can improve the drought tolerance of plants. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the dynamic regulation of TPP genes during drought stress remain unclear. In this study, we explored the function of an Arabidopsis TPP gene by conducting comparative analyses of a loss-of-function mutant and overexpression lines. Results The loss-of-function mutation of Arabidopsis thaliana TPPF , a member of the TPP gene family, resulted in a drought-sensitive phenotype, while a line overexpressing TPPF showed significantly increased drought tolerance and trehalose accumulation. Compared with wild-type plants, tppf1 mutants accumulated more H 2 O 2 under drought, while AtTPPF -overexpressing plants accumulated less H 2 O 2 under drought. Overexpression of AtTPPF led to increased contents of trehalose, sucrose, and total soluble sugars under drought conditions; these compounds may play a role in scavenging reactive oxygen species. Yeast one-hybrid and luciferase activity assays revealed that DREB1A could bind to the DRE/CRT element within the AtTPPF promoter and activate the expression of AtTPPF . A transcriptome analysis of the TPPF -overexpressing plants revealed that the expression levels of drought-repressed genes involved in electron transport activity and cell wall modification were upregulated, while those of stress-related transcription factors related to water deprivation were downregulated. These results indicate that, as well as its involvement in regulating trehalose and soluble sugars, AtTPPF is involved in regulating the transcription of stress-responsive genes. Conclusion AtTPPF functions in regulating levels of trehalose, reactive oxygen species, and sucrose levels during drought stress, and the expression of AtTPPF is activated by DREB1A in Arabidopsis. These findings shed light on the molecular mechanism by which AtTPPF regulates the response to drought stress.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Abiotic stress / Agricultural production / Agriculture / Analysis / Arabidopsis / Arabidopsis - genetics / Arabidopsis - physiology / Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics / Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism / Arabidopsis thaliana / AtTPPF / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Cell walls / Corn / Deoxyribonucleic acid / DNA / DNA binding proteins / DREB1A / Drought / Drought resistance / Drought tolerance / Droughts / electron transfer / Electron transport / Environmental aspects / family / Gene expression / Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - genetics / Gene regulation / Genes / Genetic aspects / Genetic research / Hydrogen peroxide / Life Sciences / Loss of Function Mutation - genetics / loss-of-function mutation / Luciferase / Molecular modelling / mutants / Mutation / phenotype / Phenotypes / Phosphatase / Phosphatases / Phosphates / Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases - genetics / Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases - metabolism / Phylogenetics / Physiological aspects / Plant genetics / Plant hardiness / Plant proteins / Plant Sciences / Plant-biotic interactions / Proteins / Reactive oxygen species / Research Article / Rice / SAM / Scavenging / Stress, Physiological - genetics / Sucrose / Sugar / Transcription (Genetics) / Transcription factors / transcriptomics / Tree Biology / Trehalose / Trehalose-6-phosphate / Trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase / trehalose-phosphatase / Water deprivation / Yeast / yeasts