Alternative Splicing of <i>PheNAC23</i> from Moso Bamboo Impacts Flowering Regulation and Drought Tolerance in Transgenic <i>Arabidopsis</i>
Lihua Xie,
Xiangyu Li,
Pengqiang Yao,
Zhanchao Cheng,
Miaomiao Cai,
Chunyang Liu,
Zhe Wang,
Jian Gao
Affiliations
Lihua Xie
Henan Key Laboratory of Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Eco-Economic Woody Plant, Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan 467000, China
Xiangyu Li
Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration/Beijing for Bamboo & Rattan Science and Technology, International Center for Bamboo and Rattan, Beijing 100102, China
Pengqiang Yao
Henan Key Laboratory of Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Eco-Economic Woody Plant, Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan 467000, China
Zhanchao Cheng
Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration/Beijing for Bamboo & Rattan Science and Technology, International Center for Bamboo and Rattan, Beijing 100102, China
Miaomiao Cai
Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration/Beijing for Bamboo & Rattan Science and Technology, International Center for Bamboo and Rattan, Beijing 100102, China
Chunyang Liu
Henan Key Laboratory of Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Eco-Economic Woody Plant, Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan 467000, China
Zhe Wang
Henan Key Laboratory of Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Eco-Economic Woody Plant, Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan 467000, China
Jian Gao
Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration/Beijing for Bamboo & Rattan Science and Technology, International Center for Bamboo and Rattan, Beijing 100102, China
NAC (NAM, ATAF, and CUC) transcription factors are essential in regulating plant stress response and senescence, with their functions being modulated by alternative splicing. The molecular mechanisms of stress-induced premature flowering and drought tolerance in Phyllostachys edulis (moso bamboo) are not yet fully understood. In this study, a novel NAC variant derived from PheNAC23, named PheNAC23ES, was isolated. PheNAC23ES exhibited distinct expression patterns compared to PheNAC23 during leaf senescence and drought stress response. Overexpression of PheNAC23 promoted flowering and reduced its tolerance to drought stress in Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana). However, overexpression of PheNAC23ES exhibited the opposite functions. PheNAC23 was localized in the nucleus and had transactivation activity, while PheNAC23ES had a similar localization to the control green fluorescent protein and no transactivation activity. Further functional analysis revealed that PheNAC23ES could interact with PheNAC23, suggesting that PheNAC23ES might serve as a small interfering peptide that affects the function of PheNAC23 by binding to it.
