Grape SnRK2.7 Positively Regulates Drought Tolerance in Transgenic <i>Arabidopsis</i>

Abstract

In this study, we obtained and cloned VvSnRK2.7 by screening transcriptomic data to investigate the function of the grape sucrose non-fermenting kinase 2 (SnRK2) gene under stress conditions. A yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay was used to further screen for interaction proteins of VvSnRK2.7. Ultimately, VvSnRK2.7 was heterologously expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana, and the relative conductivity, MDA content, antioxidant enzyme activity, and sugar content of the transgenic plants were determined under drought treatment. In addition, the expression levels of VvSnRK2.7 in Arabidopsis were analyzed. The results showed that the VvSnRK2.7-EGFP fusion protein was mainly located in the cell membrane and nucleus of tobacco leaves. In addition, the VvSnRK2.7 protein had an interactive relationship with the VvbZIP protein during the Y2H assay. The expression levels of VvSnRK2.7 and the antioxidant enzyme activities and sugar contents of the transgenic lines were higher than those of the wild type under drought treatment. Moreover, the relative conductivity and MDA content were lower than those of the wild type. The results indicate that VvSnRK2.7 may activate the enzyme activity of the antioxidant enzyme system, maintain normal cellular physiological metabolism, stabilize the berry sugar metabolism pathway under drought stress, and promote sugar accumulation to improve plant resistance.

Keywords

• grapes
• drought stress
• glucose metabolism
• yeast two-hybrid assay
• functional verification