WUSCHEL-related homeobox gene PagWOX11/12a is involved in drought tolerance through modulating reactive oxygen species scavenging in poplar

Rui Liu; Rui Wang; Meng-Zhu Lu; Liu-Qiang Wang

doi:10.1080/15592324.2020.1866312

WUSCHEL-related homeobox gene PagWOX11/12a is involved in drought tolerance through modulating reactive oxygen species scavenging in poplar

Plant Signal Behav. 2021 Mar 4;16(3):1866312. doi: 10.1080/15592324.2020.1866312. Epub 2020 Dec 28.

Authors

Rui Liu¹, Rui Wang², Meng-Zhu Lu^{1

3}, Liu-Qiang Wang^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Tree Breeding and Cultivation of the State Forestry Administration, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry , Beijing, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University , Harbin, China.
³ Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University , Nanjing, China.

Abstract

WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) transcription factors play essential roles in key developmental processes and in response to different abiotic stresses. In a recent study, we have refined a molecular regulation mechanism that drought-induced PagERF35 directly activates the expression of PagWOX11/12a thus to promote root elongation and biomass, especially under drought conditions, and resulting in enhanced drought tolerance in poplar. In this study, we further found that PagWOX11/12a overexpression significantly enhanced drought tolerance and improved survival rate. Interestingly, transgenic poplars overexpressing PagWOX11/12a exhibited higher ability in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) under drought stress. Combined with these and previous findings, we proposed the mechanism that PagWOX11/12a could not only promote root elongation and biomass growth to increase drought tolerance but also improve plant drought tolerance by regulating ROS level through possibly modulating the expression of ROS scavenging related genes.

Keywords: Pagwox11/12a; Drought tolerance; ROS; poplar; root development.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Droughts*
Free Radical Scavengers / metabolism*
Genes, Homeobox*
Models, Biological
Plant Proteins / genetics*
Plant Proteins / metabolism
Populus / genetics*
Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism*
Stress, Physiological / genetics

Substances

Free Radical Scavengers
Plant Proteins
Reactive Oxygen Species

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Central Non-profit Research Institution of CAF (No. CAFYBB2018QB002) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31600539 and 31971620).