Overexpression of a Malus baccata CBF transcription factor gene, MbCBF1, Increases cold and salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Xiaoqi Liang; Guijie Luo; Wenhui Li; Anqi Yao; Wanda Liu; Liping Xie; Meina Han; Xingguo Li; Deguo Han

doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.10.012

Overexpression of a Malus baccata CBF transcription factor gene, MbCBF1, Increases cold and salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant Physiol Biochem. 2022 Dec 1:192:230-242. doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.10.012. Epub 2022 Oct 15.

Authors

Xiaoqi Liang¹, Guijie Luo², Wenhui Li¹, Anqi Yao¹, Wanda Liu³, Liping Xie¹, Meina Han¹, Xingguo Li⁴, Deguo Han⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Northeast Region), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs / National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Development and Utilization of Small Fruits in Cold Regions / College of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China.
² Suqian Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Suqian, 223800, China.
³ Horticulture Branch of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, 150040, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Northeast Region), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs / National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Development and Utilization of Small Fruits in Cold Regions / College of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China. Electronic address: xingguoli@neau.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Northeast Region), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs / National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Development and Utilization of Small Fruits in Cold Regions / College of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China. Electronic address: deguohan@neau.edu.cn.

PMID: 36272190
DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.10.012

Abstract

CBFs play a crucial role when plants are in adverse environmental conditions for growth. However, there are few reports on the role of CBF gene in stress responses of Malus plant. In this experiment, a new CBF TF was separated from M. baccata which was named MbCBF1. MbCBF1 protein was found to be localized in the nucleus after subcellular localization. Furthermore, the expression of MbCBF1 was highly accumulated in new leaves and roots due to the high influence of cold and high salt in M. baccata seedlings. After introducing MbCBF1 into A. thaliana, transgenic A. thaliana can better adapt to the living conditions of cold and high salt. The increased expression of MbCBF1 in A. thaliana also increased the contents of proline, remarkablely improved the activities of SOD, POD and CAT, but the content of MDA was decreased. Although the chlorophyll content also decreased, it decreased less in transgenic plants. In short, above date showed that MbCBF1 has a positive effect on improving A. thaliana cold and high salt tolerance. MbCBF1 can regulate the expression of its downstream gene in transgenic lines, up-regulate the expression of key genes COR15a, RD29a/bandCOR6.6/47 related to low temperature under cold conditions and NCED3, CAT1, P5CS1, RD22, DREB2A,PIF1/4, SOS1 and SnRK2.4 related to salt stress under high salt conditions, so as to further improve the adaptability and tolerance of the transgenic plants to low temperature and high salt environment.

Keywords: High salt stress; Low temperature stress; Malus baccata (L.) Borkh; MbCBF1.