Aug 2026· Genetics and Molecular Biology· Vol 49· 0 citations· 78 references
Medicine
TL;DR
The potential of integrating the GmBAM-like 1 gene into plant breeding programs to develop cultivars with improved tolerance to water, salt, and osmotic stresses is demonstrated.
Abstract
Abstract Water scarcity impacts soybean cultivation and productivity globally. The ability of plants to withstand drought stress involves complex molecular and physiological mechanisms that facilitate the restoration and maintenance of cellular homeostasis. This study identified genes associated with carbohydrate metabolism and GABA shunt pathway that respond to water deficit in two soybean varieties. These varieties exhibited contrasting responses to water scarcity, and were subjected to two distinct cropping systems. In the drought-tolerant variety, a strategy for conferring tolerance was observed through the pre-emptive priming of the drought response. By applying multivariate analysis, we identified a pivotal gene, GmBAM-like 1, which responds to water scarcity. GmBAM-like 1 encodes a β-amylase and showed rapid activation and elevated expression levels in root tissues of the tolerant variety, suggesting its potential involvement in the drought tolerance response. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing GmBAM-like 1 demonstrated enhanced tolerance to salt and osmotic stress, as evidenced by increased survival and germination rates. Additionally, after drought stress, these plants showed higher transpiration rates, larger leaf area, and greater relative water content upon rehydration. These findings demonstrate the potential of integrating the GmBAM-like 1 gene into plant breeding programs to develop cultivars with improved tolerance to water, salt, and osmotic stresses.
It is suggested that StuPPO9 confers drought resilience through a multi-layered network involving optimized carbon allocation, reinforced cell wall integrity, and enhanced ROS scavenging capacity.
Ming-Kun Chi, Bo Liu, Heng-Zhao Yang et al.· Plants· 0 citations
Drought stress affects plant growth, and it can directly kill plants in severe cases. Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting soybean growth and yield. The Bax Inhibitor-1 (BI-1) can inhibit cell death mediated by both biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the function of GmBI-1 genes from soybean remains unclear under drought stress. In this study, we found four GmBI-1 genes in soybean, and the GmBI-1b was significantly induced under drought stress at RNA and protein levels. The expression level of GmBI-1b was highest in leaves, and the GmBI-1b protein was localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. Overexpression of GmBI-1b enhanced drought tolerance in soybeans by reducing cell death under drought stress. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) revealed that GmBI-1b contributes to drought tolerance, which is associated with the upregulation of ABA-related genes, cell death suppression genes and aquaporin genes.
Drought and salinity are major abiotic stresses that severely constrain plant growth and agricultural productivity. Histidine kinases (HKs), as key components of the plant two-component system (TCS), play crucial roles in environmental signal perception and adaptive responses. In this study, we functionally characterized a sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) HK gene, IbHK1a, and investigated its role in drought and salt stress tolerance. Expression analysis revealed that IbHK1a is predominantly expressed in root tissues, particularly in storage and fibrous roots, indicating its potential involvement in stress sensing and adaptation. Subcellular localization demonstrated that the IbHK1a protein is localized to the plasma membrane, suggesting a role in external signal perception. To elucidate its biological function, IbHK1a was heterologously overexpressed in Arabidopsis thaliana. Transgenic plants exhibited significantly enhanced tolerance to drought and salt stress, as evidenced by higher seed germination rates, improved primary root growth, reduced leaf wilting, and increased survival rates compared with wild-type (WT) plants. Physiological analyses showed that IbHK1a overexpression led to increased activities of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT), accompanied by reduced accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Consistently, leaf histochemical staining confirmed lower ROS accumulation in transgenic plants under stress conditions. In sweet potato, overexpression of IbHK1a in transgenic hairy roots enhanced tolerance to drought and salinity, whereas RNA interference lines displayed increased sensitivity, further confirming its positive regulatory role. Additionally, protein interaction analysis indicated that IbHK1a interacts with Arabidopsis histidine phosphotransferase proteins (AHPs), suggesting its involvement in conserved TCS-mediated phosphorelay signaling pathways. Functional complementation analysis demonstrated that IbHK1a partially rescues the stress-sensitive phenotype of the AHK1 mutant, indicating functional conservation with Arabidopsis AHK1. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that IbHK1a positively regulates drought and salt stress tolerance by enhancing antioxidant defense and ROS homeostasis. Its interaction with AHPs and partial complementation of the ahk1 mutant further support its involvement in the conserved TCS phosphorelay pathway. These results establish IbHK1a as an important component of abiotic stress responses and a potential genetic target for improving drought and salinity tolerance in sweet potato.
Ru-Xue Huo, Imran Khan, Jia Shi et al.· Plants· 0 citations
The ABA signaling pathway is essential for plant growth, development, and responses to diverse abiotic stresses. 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenases (NCEDs) are key functional enzymes involved in this pathway. In the present study, we investigated the biological roles and underlying molecular mechanisms of the TaNCED1 gene in wheat under drought stress treatment, using two materials: TaNCED1-overexpressing transgenic wheat plants and the nced1 knockout mutants. Phenotypic and physiological results demonstrated that TaNCED1 overexpression significantly enhanced wheat drought tolerance, whereas the knockout mutants clearly reduced the drought resistance. Mechanistically, TaNCED1 positively modulates wheat drought tolerance by maintaining higher leaf relative water content (RWC), accumulating more soluble sugars and proline, and reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and electrolytic leakage. Moreover, the catalase (CAT) activity accumulated to higher levels exclusively under drought stress, and this antioxidant enzyme serves as a core mediator of drought tolerance conferred by TaNCED1 overexpression. Transcriptomic profiling of drought-challenged transgenic and WT plants further confirmed that TaNCED1 initiates a suite of stress-responsive regulatory cascades and robustly upregulates key drought resistance genes in wheat.
Shujuan Zhang, Rongzhi Zhang, Dandan Li et al.· Plants· 0 citations
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a major staple food crop worldwide. Drought stress induced by extreme weather severely limits its growth and yield. Proteins containing domains of unknown function (DUF) play important roles in plant stress responses, but their regulatory mechanisms remain largely unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that the plasma membrane-localized protein OsDUF1223 functions as a negative regulator of drought tolerance in rice seedlings. Under drought stress, OsDUF1223-overexpressing lines exhibited lower survival rates, higher water loss rates, and reduced antioxidant enzyme activities and osmolyte accumulation. Transcriptomic and physiological analyses revealed that OsDUF1223 modulates drought responses through ABA signaling and nitrogen response pathways. Collectively, this study elucidates that OsDUF1223 regulates drought tolerance at the seedling stage in rice through functional association with the ABA and nitrogen signaling pathways, thereby providing a candidate gene resource for the genetic improvement of drought tolerance in rice.
Drought poses a serious challenge to global crop production. Identifying drought tolerance genes underpins the breeding of drought-resilient crop varieties. GATA transcription factors (TFs) are recognized as crucial modulators of plant abiotic stress responses, yet their specific functions in common wheat remain largely unexplored. In this study, we identified the TF TaGATA5, which encodes a protein containing a conserved ZnF_GATA domain across plant species. The expression of TaGATA5 was markedly induced by PEG, NaCl, and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments in wheat. Subcellular localization analysis showed that TaGATA5 was localized to the nucleus, and transactivation assays demonstrated its transcriptional activation ability. Compared with wild-type controls, TaGATA5 transgenic plants displayed improved growth performance and higher survival rates under drought stress by reducing water loss and maintaining higher relative water content. Moreover, TaGATA5 overexpression reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, accompanied by increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Conversely, TaGATA5 knockout mutants showed compromised drought tolerance, characterized by reduced growth performance, increased water loss, and lower survival rates. Yeast two-hybrid screening identified TaCOP9-2A as an interacting partner of TaGATA5. Both TaGATA5 and TaCOP9-2A function as positive regulators of drought tolerance. Notably, no negative effects on yield-related traits were observed in TaGATA5 transgenic plants under greenhouse conditions. Collectively, our findings elucidate the biological function of TaGATA5 in the wheat drought stress response and provide a valuable genetic resource for breeding drought-tolerant wheat varieties.
Jie Xiang, Jin-Ping Wang, Lijia Li et al.· Plant Science· 0 citations
We use cookies to run the site and, with your consent, for analytics and to show ads.
See our Cookie Policy.
