Poplar CCR4-associated factor PtCAF1I is necessary for poplar development and defense response

Pu Wang; Jie Zhou; Weibo Sun; Hongyan Li; Shamsur Rehman; Chen Xu; Dawei Li; Qiang Zhuge

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125090

Poplar CCR4-associated factor PtCAF1I is necessary for poplar development and defense response

Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Jul 1;242(Pt 4):125090. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125090. Epub 2023 May 27.

Authors

Pu Wang¹, Jie Zhou², Weibo Sun³, Hongyan Li⁴, Shamsur Rehman⁴, Chen Xu⁵, Dawei Li⁶, Qiang Zhuge⁷

Affiliations

¹ Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: wangpu@njfu.edu.cn.
² Jiangsu Academy of Forestry, Nanjing 211153, China.
³ Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: czswb@njfu.edu.cn.
⁴ Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
⁵ Jiangsu Provincial Key Construction Laboratory of Special Biomass Resource Utilization, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China.
⁶ Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: dwli@njfu.edu.cn.
⁷ Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: qzhuge@njfu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37247707
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125090

Abstract

Poplar is one of the most widely used tree species in afforestation projects. CCR4 associated factor 1 (CAF1) is a major member of CCR4-NOT and plays an important role in eukaryotic mRNA deadenylation. However, its role in poplar remains unclear. In this study, the full-length cDNA of the PtCAF1I gene was cloned from the poplar by screening the highly expressed PtCAF1I gene in the identified PtCAF1 gene family by poplar sterilization. PtCAF1I was localized in the nucleus. Through sequence alignment, it was found that the PtCAF1I sequence contains three motifs and is highly similar to the CAF1 protein sequence of other species. In the quantitative expression analysis of tissues, the expression of PtCAF1I in different tissues of Populus trichocarpa, 'Nanlin895', and Shanxinyang was not much different. In addition, the analysis of the expression of the PtCAF1I gene under different stress treatments showed that PtCAF1I responded to abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), NaCl, PEG₆₀₀₀, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and cold stress to different degrees. To study the potential biological functions of PtCAF1I, 6 transgenic lines were obtained through transformation using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens infection system. The transcriptome sequencing results showed that DEGs were mainly concentrated in pathways of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, carbon metabolism, and carotenoid biosynthesis. Compared with WT poplar, the contents of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, total sugar, and flavonoids, and the cell wall thickness of PtCAF1I overexpression poplars were significantly higher. Under Septotinia populiperda treatment, transgenic poplars clearly exhibited certain disease resistance. Meanwhile, upregulation of the expression of JA and SA pathway-related genes also contributed to improving the disease tolerance of transgenic poplar. In conclusion, our results suggest that PtCAF1I plays an important role in the growth and development of poplars and their resistance to pathogens.

Keywords: Disease resistant; Poplar; Poplar development; PtCAF1.

MeSH terms

Abscisic Acid / metabolism
Flavonoids / metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Hydrogen Peroxide / metabolism
Plant Proteins / genetics
Plant Proteins / metabolism
Plants, Genetically Modified / genetics
Plants, Genetically Modified / metabolism
Populus* / metabolism
Salicylic Acid / metabolism

Substances

Hydrogen Peroxide
Flavonoids
Salicylic Acid
Abscisic Acid
Plant Proteins