Transcription factor ZmNAC59 regulates plant salt resistance in Zea mays L.

Abstract

[ Objective ] The NAC transcription factor family is a class of transcription factors that is widely studied in plants. It plays an important role in regulating plant growth and development and responding to abiotic stress. Maize is one of the three major food crops , which faces various adverse stresses in growth and development. Salt stress is one of the main environmental factors limiting crop growth and produc- tion. Therefore , it is of great significance to identify maize salt resistance genes and analyze their salt re- sistance mechanism for breeding stress-resistant maize varieties. [ Methods ] This study cloned the maize transcription factor ZmNAC59 and analyzed its conserved domain and phylogenetic relationship using bioinformatics methods. The expression pattern of the gene in leaves under NaCl and MeJA treatments was analyzed using the quantitative real-time PCR method. The stable transgenic system was used to het- erologously express the gene in Arabidopsis thaliana for phenotype observation. At the same time , virus- induced silencing technology was used to silence the gene in maize , followed by phenotype observation un- der salt stress and enzyme activity detection. [ Results ] The qRT-PCR results showed that ZmNAC59 was up-regulated by NaCl and MeJA treatments. After virus-induced silencing of ZmNAC59 , the silenced strains were more sensitive to salt stress and accumulated more ROS. After over expression of ZmNAC59 in A . thaliana , the over expression lines had higher survival rate , less accumulation of ROS , and lower Na + / K + ratios under salt stress , indicating that ZmNAC59 , as a positive regulator of salt stress , can im- prove plant salt resistance by regulating ion homeostasis. qRT-PCR results showed that Na + and K + transport related genes were significantly up-regulated in A . thaliana overexpression lines. After transient expression of ZmNAC59 in maize protoplasts , the expression of ZmSOS1 , ZmNHX1 , and ZmNHX7 were significantly up-regulated after salt treatment. The Dual-LUC experiment showed that ZmSOS1 was the target gene of ZmNAC59. [ Conclusion ] This study finds that ZmNAC59 activates ZmSOS1 promoter and regulates its expression to promote ion transport under salt stress , thereby improving plant salt resist- ance. This provides a basis for the screening of maize stress resistant genes and variety cultivation.

Keywords

• maize
• transcription factors
• salt stress
• ion transport