Abstract
Soil salinity increasingly causes crop losses worldwide. Although roots are the primary targets of salt stress, the signaling networks that facilitate metabolic reprogramming to induce stress tolerance are less understood than those in leaves. Here, a combination of transcriptomic and metabolic approaches was performed in salt-treated Arabidopsis thaliana roots, which revealed that the group S1 basic leucine zipper transcription factors bZIP1 and bZIP53 reprogram primary C- and N-metabolism. In particular, gluconeogenesis and amino acid catabolism are affected by these transcription factors. Importantly, bZIP1 expression reflects cellular stress and energy status in roots. In addition to the well-described abiotic stress response pathway initiated by the hormone abscisic acid (ABA) and executed by SnRK2 (Snf1-RELATED-PROTEIN-KINASE2) and AREB-like bZIP factors, we identify a structurally related ABA-independent signaling module consisting of SnRK1s and S1 bZIPs. Crosstalk between these signaling pathways recruits particular bZIP factor combinations to establish at least four distinct gene expression patterns. Understanding this signaling network provides a framework for securing future crop productivity.
© 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Abscisic Acid / pharmacology
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Amino Acids / metabolism
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Arabidopsis / drug effects
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Arabidopsis / genetics*
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Arabidopsis / metabolism
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Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics*
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Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism
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Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / genetics*
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Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / metabolism
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Calcium / metabolism
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Carbohydrate Metabolism / drug effects
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Carbohydrate Metabolism / genetics
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Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects
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Gluconeogenesis / drug effects
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Gluconeogenesis / genetics
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Immunoblotting
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Mutation
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Plant Growth Regulators / pharmacology
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Plant Roots / drug effects
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Plant Roots / genetics
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Plant Roots / metabolism
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Promoter Regions, Genetic / genetics
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Protein Binding / drug effects
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Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
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Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Salt-Tolerant Plants / drug effects
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Salt-Tolerant Plants / genetics
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Salt-Tolerant Plants / metabolism
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Signal Transduction / drug effects
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Signal Transduction / genetics*
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Sodium Chloride / pharmacology
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Transcriptome / drug effects
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Transcriptome / genetics
Substances
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Amino Acids
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Arabidopsis Proteins
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Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors
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Plant Growth Regulators
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SnRK2 protein, Arabidopsis
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bZIP1 protein, Arabidopsis
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bZIP53 protein, Arabidopsis
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Sodium Chloride
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Abscisic Acid
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Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
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Calcium