The AP2 transcription factor NtERF172 confers drought resistance by modifying NtCAT

作者：Qiang Zhao, Risheng Hu, Dan Liu, Xin Liu, Jie Wang, Xiaohua Xiang, Yangyang Li · 发表于：Plant Biotechnology Journal · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1111/pbi.13419 · 被引用次数：90 · 研究领域：Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance、Plant Molecular Biology Research、Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism

Summary Drought stress often limits plant growth and global crop yields. Catalase (CAT)‐mediated hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) scavenging plays an important role in the adaptation of plant stress responses, but the transcriptional regulation of the CAT gene in response to drought stress is not well understood. Here, we isolated an APETALA2/ETHYLENE‐RESPONSIVE FACTOR (AP2/ERF) domain‐containing transcription factor (TF), NtERF172 , which was strongly induced by drought, abscisic acid (ABA) and H 2 O 2 , from tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) by yeast one‐hybrid screening. NtERF172 localized to the nucleus and acted as a transcriptional activator. Chromatin immunoprecipitation, yeast one‐hybrid assays, electrophoretic mobility shift assays and transient expression analysis assays showed that NtERF172 directly bound to the promoter region of the NtCAT gene and positively regulated its expression. Transgenic plants overexpressing NtERF172 displayed enhanced tolerance to drought stress, whereas suppression of NtERF172 decreased drought tolerance. Under drought stress conditions, the NtERF172 ‐overexpressed lines showed higher catalase activity and lower accumulation of H 2 O 2 compared with wild‐type (WT) plants, while the NtERF172 ‐silenced plants showed the inverse correlation. Exogenous application of amino‐1,2,4‐triazole (3‐AT), an irreversible CAT inhibitor, to the NtERF172‐ overexpression lines showed decreased catalase activity and drought tolerance, and increased levels of cell...