A 14-3-3 Family Protein from Wild Soybean (Glycine Soja) Regulates ABA Sensitivity in Arabidopsis

PLoS One. 2015 Dec 30;10(12):e0146163. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146163. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the 14-3-3 family proteins are key regulators of multiple stress signal transduction cascades. By conducting genome-wide analysis, researchers have identified the soybean 14-3-3 family proteins; however, until now, there is still no direct genetic evidence showing the involvement of soybean 14-3-3s in ABA responses. Hence, in this study, based on the latest Glycine max genome on Phytozome v10.3, we initially analyzed the evolutionary relationship, genome organization, gene structure and duplication, and three-dimensional structure of soybean 14-3-3 family proteins systematically. Our results suggested that soybean 14-3-3 family was highly evolutionary conserved and possessed segmental duplication in evolution. Then, based on our previous functional characterization of a Glycine soja 14-3-3 protein GsGF14o in drought stress responses, we further investigated the expression characteristics of GsGF14o in detail, and demonstrated its positive roles in ABA sensitivity. Quantitative real-time PCR analyses in Glycine soja seedlings and GUS activity assays in PGsGF14O:GUS transgenic Arabidopsis showed that GsGF14o expression was moderately and rapidly induced by ABA treatment. As expected, GsGF14o overexpression in Arabidopsis augmented the ABA inhibition of seed germination and seedling growth, promoted the ABA induced stomata closure, and up-regulated the expression levels of ABA induced genes. Moreover, through yeast two hybrid analyses, we further demonstrated that GsGF14o physically interacted with the AREB/ABF transcription factors in yeast cells. Taken together, results presented in this study strongly suggested that GsGF14o played an important role in regulation of ABA sensitivity in Arabidopsis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 14-3-3 Proteins / genetics
  • 14-3-3 Proteins / physiology*
  • Abscisic Acid / physiology*
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / physiology*
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Germination / physiology
  • Glycine max / genetics
  • Glycine max / physiology*
  • Oryza / genetics
  • Phylogeny
  • Plant Growth Regulators / physiology*
  • Plant Stomata / physiology
  • Seedlings / growth & development
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Signal Transduction / genetics
  • Signal Transduction / physiology

Substances

  • 14-3-3 Proteins
  • Plant Growth Regulators
  • Abscisic Acid

Grants and funding

Funded by Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (C2015035 to XLS) http://nsf.hljkj.cn/zrjj/, National Natural Science Foundation of China (31500204 to XLS) http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M581494 to XLS) http://www.chinapostdoctor.org.cn/WebSite/program/Default.aspx, Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (LBH-Z15186 to XLS) http://www.hljbsh.org/index.asp, Startup Foundation of Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University (XYB 2015-01 to XLS) http://www.hlau.cn/, and Student's Platform for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program (XC2015003 to YS) http://www.hlau.cn/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.