GsSnRK1 interplays with transcription factor GsERF7 from wild soybean to regulate soybean stress resistance

• Published in: Plant, cell and environment Vol. 43; no. 5; pp. 1192 - 1211
• Main Authors: Feng, Xu, Feng, Peng, Yu, Huilin, Yu, Xingyu, Sun, Qi, Liu, Siyu, Minh, Thuy Nguyen, Chen, Jun, Wang, Di, Zhang, Qing, Cao, Lei, Zhou, Changmei, Li, Qiang, Xiao, Jialei, Zhong, Shihua, Wang, Aoxue, Wang, Lijuan, Pan, Hongyu, Ding, Xiaodong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.05.2020; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: abiotic stress; Cytoplasm; DNA, Plant - metabolism; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; Environmental regulations; Environmental stress; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Glycine max - genetics; Glycine max - metabolism; Glycine max - physiology; Glycine soja; Hairy root; Kinases; Molecular modelling; Phosphorylation; Phylogeny; Plant Growth Regulators - metabolism; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plant Proteins - physiology; Plant Roots - metabolism; Plant stress; Roots; Seedlings; Sequence Alignment; SnRK1 kinase; Soybeans; Stress, Physiological; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Transcription Factors - physiology; Translocation; SnRK1 kinase; abiotic stress
• ISSN: 0140-7791; 1365-3040
• DOI: 10.1111/pce.13726

Although the function and regulation of SnRK1 have been studied in various plants, its molecular mechanisms in response to abiotic stresses are still elusive. In this work, we identified an AP2/ERF domain‐containing protein (designated GsERF7) interacting with GsSnRK1 from a wild soybean cDNA library. GsERF7 gene expressed dominantly in wild soybean roots and was responsive to ethylene, salt, and alkaline. GsERF7 bound GCC cis‐acting element and could be phosphorylated on S36 by GsSnRK1. GsERF7 phosphorylation facilitated its translocation from cytoplasm to nucleus and enhanced its transactivation activity. When coexpressed in the hairy roots of soybean seedlings, GsSnRK1(wt) and GsERF7(wt) promoted plants to generate higher tolerance to salt and alkaline stresses than their mutated species, suggesting that GsSnRK1 may function as a biochemical and genetic upstream kinase of GsERF7 to regulate plant adaptation to environmental stresses. Furthermore, the altered expression patterns of representative abiotic stress‐responsive and hormone‐synthetic genes were determined in transgenic soybean hairy roots after stress treatments. These results will aid our understanding of molecular mechanism of how SnRK1 kinase plays a cardinal role in regulating plant stress resistances through activating the biological functions of downstream factors. In this work, we reported wild soybean GsSnRK1 bound and phosphorylated GsERF7, which is required for GsERF7 to translocate and transactivate in nucleus. Co‐transformation of these two genes could significantly enhance soybean salt/alkali resistance, suggesting these two proteins interplay to regulate soybean abiotic tolerance.