PacMYBA, a sweet cherry R2R3-MYB transcription factor, is a positive regulator of salt stress tolerance and pathogen resistance

Plant Physiol Biochem. 2017 Mar:112:302-311. doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2017.01.015. Epub 2017 Jan 17.

Abstract

Plant R2R3-MYB transcription factors play crucial roles in stress responses. We previously isolated a R2R3-MYB homolog from sweet cherry cv. Hong Deng, designated PacMYBA (GenBank accession No. KF974774). To explore the role of PacMYBA in the plant stress response, we heterologously expressed PacMYBA in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. In a previous study, we demonstrated that PacMYBA is mainly localized to the nucleus and could be induced by abscisic acid (ABA). Analysis of the promoter sequence of PacMYBA revealed that it contains several stress-related cis-elements. QPCR results showed that PacMYBA is induced by salt, salicylic (SA), and jasmonic acid (JA) in sweet cherry leaves. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants heterologously expressing PacMYBA exhibited enhanced salt-tolerance and increased resistance to Pseudomonas syringe pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000 infection. Overexpression of PacMYBA decreased the osmotic potential (OP), increased the free proline content, and increased the peroxidase content in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Furthermore, overexpression of PacMYBA also affected the expression levels of salt stress- and pathogen defense-related genes in the transgenic plants. These results indicate that PacMYBA is a positive regulator of salt stress tolerance and pathogen resistance.

Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana; Pathogen infection; R2R3-MYB transcription factor; Salt stress; Sweet cherry.

MeSH terms

  • Acetates / pharmacology
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / microbiology
  • Cyclopentanes / pharmacology
  • Disease Resistance / drug effects*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects
  • Genes, Plant
  • Oxylipins / pharmacology
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology
  • Plant Leaves / drug effects
  • Plant Leaves / genetics
  • Plant Proteins / genetics
  • Plant Proteins / metabolism*
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Prunus avium / drug effects
  • Prunus avium / genetics
  • Prunus avium / microbiology*
  • Prunus avium / physiology*
  • Pseudomonas / physiology
  • Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / genetics
  • Salicylic Acid / pharmacology
  • Salt Tolerance / drug effects*
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Sodium Chloride / pharmacology*
  • Stress, Physiological / drug effects*
  • Stress, Physiological / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*
  • Up-Regulation / drug effects

Substances

  • Acetates
  • Cyclopentanes
  • Oxylipins
  • Plant Proteins
  • Transcription Factors
  • Sodium Chloride
  • methyl jasmonate
  • Salicylic Acid