Promoter Cis-Element Analyses Reveal the Function of αVPE in Drought Stress Response of <i>Arabidopsis</i>
Chu-Nie Tang,
Wan Muhamad Asrul Nizam Wan Abdullah,
Chien-Yeong Wee,
Zetty Norhana Balia Yusof,
Wai-Sum Yap,
Wan-Hee Cheng,
Nadiya Akmal Baharum,
Janna Ong-Abdullah,
Jiun-Yan Loh,
Kok-Song Lai
Affiliations
Chu-Nie Tang
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Wan Muhamad Asrul Nizam Wan Abdullah
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Chien-Yeong Wee
Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Zetty Norhana Balia Yusof
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Wai-Sum Yap
He & Ni Academy, 1-3, The Boulevard, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Kuala Lumpur 59200, Selangor, Malaysia
Wan-Hee Cheng
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, INTI International University, Persiaran Perdana BBN, Putra Nilai, Nilai 71800, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
Nadiya Akmal Baharum
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Janna Ong-Abdullah
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Jiun-Yan Loh
Centre of Research for Advanced Aquaculture (CORAA), UCSI University, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Selangor, Malaysia
Kok-Song Lai
Health Sciences Division, Abu Dhabi Women’s College, Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi 41012, United Arab Emirates
Vacuolar processing enzyme (VPE) is a cysteine protease responsible for vacuolar proteins’ maturation and regulation of programmed cell death (PCD). Four isoforms of Arabidopsis thaliana VPEs were identified previously, but only the functions of βVPE, γVPE, and δVPE were determined. The specific function of a gene is linked to the cis-acting elements in the promoter region. A promoter analysis found repetitive drought-related cis-elements in αVPE, which highlight its potential involvement in drought regulation in A. thaliana. The further co-expression network portraying genes interacting with αVPE substantiated its drought-regulation-related function. Expression of αVPE was upregulated after drought treatment in A. thaliana. To confirm the role of αVPE, a loss of function study revealed that αVPE knockout mutants remained green compared with WT after drought treatment. The mutants had reduced proline activity, decreased sucrose content, and lower MDA content, but increased photosynthetic pigments, indicating that αVPE negatively regulates drought tolerance in A. thaliana. Taken together, our findings serve as important evidence of the involvement of αVPE in modulating drought tolerance in A. thaliana.
