Global Landscapes of the <i>Na⁺/H⁺ Antiporter (NHX)</i> Family Members Uncover their Potential Roles in Regulating the Rapeseed Resistance to Salt Stress

Abstract

Soil salinity is a main abiotic stress in agriculture worldwide. The Na+/H+ antiporters (NHXs) play pivotal roles in intracellular Na+ excretion and vacuolar Na+ compartmentalization, which are important for plant salt stress resistance (SSR). However, few systematic analyses of NHXs has been reported in allotetraploid rapeseed so far. Here, a total of 18 full-length NHX homologs, representing seven subgroups (NHX1-NHX8 without NHX5), were identified in the rapeseed genome (AnAnCnCn). Number variations of BnaNHXs might indicate their significantly differential roles in the regulation of rapeseed SSR. BnaNHXs were phylogenetically divided into three evolutionary clades, and the members in the same subgroups had similar physiochemical characteristics, gene/protein structures, and conserved Na+ transport motifs. Darwin´s evolutionary pressure analysis suggested that BnaNHXs suffered from strong purifying selection. The cis-element analysis revealed the differential transcriptional regulation of NHXs between the model Arabidopsis and B. napus. Differential expression of BnaNHXs under salt stress, different nitrogen forms (ammonium and nitrate), and low phosphate indicated their potential involvement in the regulation of rapeseed SSR. Global landscapes of BnaNHXs will give an integrated understanding of their family evolution and molecular features, which will provide elite gene resources for the genetic improvement of plant SSR through regulating the NHX-mediated Na+ transport.

Keywords

• Allotetraploid
• <i>Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter</i> (<i>NHX</i>), <i>Brassica napus</i>
• genome-wide identification
• salt stress