GpDSR7, a Novel E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Gene in Grimmia pilifera Is Involved in Tolerance to Drought Stress in Arabidopsis

Mengmeng Li; Yihao Li; Junyi Zhao; Hai Liu; Shenghua Jia; Jie Li; Heping Zhao; Shengcheng Han; Yingdian Wang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155455

GpDSR7, a Novel E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Gene in Grimmia pilifera Is Involved in Tolerance to Drought Stress in Arabidopsis

PLoS One. 2016 May 26;11(5):e0155455. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155455. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Mengmeng Li¹, Yihao Li¹, Junyi Zhao¹, Hai Liu¹, Shenghua Jia¹, Jie Li¹, Heping Zhao¹, Shengcheng Han¹, Yingdian Wang¹

Affiliation

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

The growth and development of plants under drought stress depends mainly on the expression levels of various genes and modification of proteins. To clarify the molecular mechanism of drought-tolerance of plants, suppression subtractive hybridisation cDNA libraries were screened to identify drought-stress-responsive unigenes in Grimmia pilifera, and a novel E3 ubiquitin ligase gene, GpDSR7, was identified among the 240 responsive unigenes. GpDSR7 expression was induced by various abiotic stresses, particularly by drought. GpDSR7 displayed E3 ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro and was exclusively localised on the ER membrane in Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts. GpDSR7-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed a high water content and survival ratio under drought stress. Moreover, the expression levels of some marker genes involved in drought stress were higher in the transgenic plants than in wild-type plants. These results suggest that GpDSR7, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is involved in tolerance to drought stress at the protein modification level.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Arabidopsis* / genetics
Arabidopsis* / growth & development
Bryopsida / enzymology*
Bryopsida / genetics
Osmotic Pressure
Plant Proteins* / biosynthesis
Plant Proteins* / genetics
Plants, Genetically Modified* / genetics
Plants, Genetically Modified* / growth & development
Stress, Physiological*
Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases* / biosynthesis
Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases* / genetics

Substances

Plant Proteins
Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program, No. 2007AA02140). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.