Identification of <i>ZmSNAC06</i>, a Maize NAC Family Transcription Factor with Multiple Transcripts Conferring Drought Tolerance in <i>Arabidopsis</i>
Fei Wang,
Yong Chen,
Ruisi Yang,
Ping Luo,
Houwen Wang,
Runze Zhang,
Wenzhe Li,
Ke Yang,
Xinlong Xu,
Zhuanfang Hao,
Xinhai Li
Affiliations
Fei Wang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Yong Chen
College of Life Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Ruisi Yang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Ping Luo
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Houwen Wang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Runze Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Wenzhe Li
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Ke Yang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Xinlong Xu
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Zhuanfang Hao
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Xinhai Li
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Drought is one of the most serious environmental stresses affecting crop production. NAC transcription factors play a crucial role in responding to various abiotic stresses in plants. Here, we identified a maize NAC transcription factor, ZmSNAC06, between drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive inbred lines through RNA-seq analysis and characterized its function in Arabidopsis. ZmSNAC06 had five transcripts, of which ZmSNAC06-T02 had a typical NAC domain, while ZmSNAC06-P02 was localized in the nucleus of maize protoplasts and had transactivation activity in yeasts. The expression of ZmSNAC06 in maize was induced by drought. The overexpression of ZmSNAC06-T02 in Arabidopsis resulted in hypersensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA) at the germination stage, and overexpression lines exhibited higher survival rates and higher antioxidant enzyme activities compared with the wild-type under drought stress. These results suggest that ZmSNAC06 acts as a positive regulator in drought tolerance and may be used to improve drought tolerance in crops.
