Inhibition of the maize salt overly sensitive pathway by ZmSK3 and ZmSK4

Jianfang Li; Xueyan Zhou; Yan Wang; Shu Song; Liang Ma; Qian He; Minhui Lu; Kaina Zhang; Yongqing Yang; Qian Zhao; Weiwei Jin; Caifu Jiang; Yan Guo

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2023.04.010

Inhibition of the maize salt overly sensitive pathway by ZmSK3 and ZmSK4

J Genet Genomics. 2023 Dec;50(12):960-970. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2023.04.010. Epub 2023 Apr 29.

Authors

Jianfang Li¹, Xueyan Zhou¹, Yan Wang¹, Shu Song², Liang Ma¹, Qian He¹, Minhui Lu³, Kaina Zhang¹, Yongqing Yang¹, Qian Zhao¹, Weiwei Jin⁴, Caifu Jiang⁵, Yan Guo⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
² College of Life Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong 266109, China.
³ Center for Crop Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100093, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Center for Crop Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100093, China; National Maize Improvement Center of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Center for Crop Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100093, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Center for Crop Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100093, China. Electronic address: guoyan@cau.edu.cn.

PMID: 37127254
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2023.04.010

Abstract

Soil salinity is a worldwide problem that adversely affects plant growth and crop productivity. The salt overly sensitive (SOS) pathway is evolutionarily conserved and essential for plant salt tolerance. In this study, we reveal how the maize shaggy/glycogen synthase kinase 3-like kinases ZmSK3 and ZmSK4, orthologs of brassinosteroid insensitive 2 in Arabidopsis thaliana, regulate the maize SOS pathway. ZmSK3 and ZmSK4 interact with and phosphorylate ZmSOS2, a core member of the maize SOS pathway. The mutants defective in ZmSK3 or ZmSK4 are hyposensitive to salt stress, with higher salt-induced activity of ZmSOS2 than that in the wild type. Furthermore, the Ca²⁺ sensors ZmSOS3 and ZmSOS3-like calcium binding protein 8 (ZmSCaBP8) activate ZmSOS2 to maintain Na⁺/K⁺ homeostasis under salt stress and may participate in the regulation of ZmSOS2 by ZmSK3 and ZmSK4. These findings discover the regulation of the maize SOS pathway and provide important gene targets for breeding salt-tolerant maize.

Keywords: Maize SOS pathway; Salt stress; ZmSCaBP8; ZmSK3; ZmSK4.

MeSH terms

Arabidopsis Proteins* / genetics
Arabidopsis Proteins* / metabolism
Arabidopsis* / metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / genetics
Homeostasis
Plant Breeding
Zea mays / genetics

Substances

Arabidopsis Proteins