Journal Article

Rice NAC transcription factor ONAC066 functions as a positive regulator of drought and oxidative stress response

Yuan, Xi, Cai, Jiating, Wang, Hui, Li, Dayong, Bi, Yan, Song, Fengming

2019

Overview

Background NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC) transcriptional factors constitute a large family with more than 150 members in rice and several members of this family have been demonstrated to play crucial roles in rice abiotic stress response. In the present study, we report the function of a novel stress-responsive NAC gene, ONAC066 , in rice drought and oxidative stress tolerance. Results ONAC066 was localized in nuclei of cells when transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana and is a transcription activator with the binding ability to NAC recognition sequence (NACRS) and AtJUB1 binding site (JBS). Expression of ONAC066 was significantly induced by PEG, NaCl, H 2 O 2 and abscisic acid (ABA). Overexpression of ONAC066 in transgenic rice improved drought and oxidative stress tolerance and increased ABA sensitivity, accompanied with decreased rate of water loss, increased contents of proline and soluble sugars, decreased accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and upregulated expression of stress-related genes under drought stress condition. By contrast, RNAi-mediated suppression of ONAC066 attenuated drought and oxidative stress tolerance and decreased ABA sensitivity, accompanied with increased rate of water loss, decreased contents of proline and soluble sugars, elevated accumulation of ROS and downregulated expression of stress-related genes under drought stress condition. Furthermore, yeast one hybrid and chromatin immunoprecipitation-PCR analyses revealed that ONAC066 bound directly to a JBS-like cis -elements in OsDREB2A promoter and activated the transcription of OsDREB2A . Conclusion ONAC066 is a nucleus-localized transcription activator that can respond to multiple abiotic stress factors. Functional analyses using overexpression and RNAi-mediated suppression transgenic lines demonstrate that ONAC066 is a positive regulator of drought and oxidative stress tolerance in rice.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,BMC
• Subject: Abscisic acid / Agriculture / Amino acids / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Chromatin / drought / Drought tolerance / Droughts / family / Genes / Genetic aspects / Genetic engineering / Genetic research / Genetically engineered foods / genetically modified organisms / Life Sciences / NAC transcription factor / Nicotiana benthamiana / Novels / ONAC066 / Oxidative stress / Oxidative stress tolerance / Physiological adaptation / Physiological aspects / Plant hardiness / Plant hormones / Plant Sciences / Plant-abiotic interactions / Proline / reactive oxygen species / Research Article / Rice / Rice (Oryza sativa L,) / RNA interference / Sodium chloride / stress response / stress tolerance / transcription (genetics) / Transcription factors / Tree Biology / water stress / yeasts