Overexpression of PdC3H17 Confers Tolerance to Drought Stress Depending on Its CCCH Domain in Populus

Yamei Zhuang; Yamei Zhuang; Congpeng Wang; Yang Zhang; Yang Zhang; Sihui Chen; Dian Wang; Qing Liu; Gongke Zhou; Guohua Chai; Guohua Chai

doi:10.3389/fpls.2019.01748

Frontiers in Plant Science (Jan 2020)

Overexpression of PdC3H17 Confers Tolerance to Drought Stress Depending on Its CCCH Domain in Populus

Yamei Zhuang,
Yamei Zhuang,
Congpeng Wang,
Yang Zhang,
Yang Zhang,
Sihui Chen,
Dian Wang,
Qing Liu,
Gongke Zhou,
Guohua Chai,
Guohua Chai

Affiliations

Yamei Zhuang: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Yamei Zhuang: Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
Congpeng Wang: College of Resources and Environment, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
Yang Zhang: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Yang Zhang: Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
Sihui Chen: Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
Dian Wang: Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
Qing Liu: College of Resources and Environment, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
Gongke Zhou: Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
Guohua Chai: Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
Guohua Chai: College of Resources and Environment, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.01748
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10

Abstract

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Plant CCCH zinc finger proteins control growth, development, and stress responses mainly at the post-transcriptional level. Currently, limited reports are available about the roles of plant CCCH proteins in drought tolerance. In this study, we provided evidence showing that PdC3H17 from Populus deltoides × P. euramericana involves drought tolerance and response. Overexpression of PdC3H17 in poplar caused dwarf, resulted in higher stem water potential, and showed increased photosynthetic and ROS-scavenging abilities, thereby enhancing tolerance to drought stress, compared to controls. Accordingly, after drought treatment the stem elongation and thickening rates of these overexpression lines were higher than those of the controls. However, overexpression of the coding region excluding the CCCH domain of PdC3H17 roughly exhibited WT-like physiological and drought-resistant phenotypes, indicating the requirement of the CCCH domain for PdC3H17 controlling these processes. In addition, N-terminal sequence of PdC3H17 was found to possess transcriptional activity ability in yeast cells. Together, our results suggest that PdC3H17 may depend on its CCCH domain to control drought tolerance in Populus.

Published in Frontiers in Plant Science

ISSN: 1664-462X (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Agriculture: Plant culture
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science

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