A Na+/H+ antiporter-encoding salt overly sensitive 1 gene, LpSOS1, involved in positively regulating the salt tolerance in Lilium pumilum

• Published in: Gene Vol. 874; p. 147485
• Main Authors: Yang, Yue, Xu, Leifeng, Li, Wenxiang, Cao, Yuwei, Bi, Mengmeng, Wang, Pengfei, Liang, Rui, Yang, Panpan, Ming, Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 20.07.2023
• Subjects: Antioxidants; Antiporters - genetics; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Lilium - genetics; Lilium pumilum; Na+/H+ antiporter salt overly sensitive 1; Plant Breeding; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified - metabolism; Salinity; Salt tolerance; Salt Tolerance - genetics; Sodium Chloride - metabolism; Sodium Chloride - pharmacology; Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers - genetics; Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers - metabolism; Salt tolerance; NBT; ORF; Na+/H+ antiporter salt overly sensitive 1; POD; MS; PHA; SOD; MDA; Blast; bp; Salinity; GFP; TBA; CDS; Lilium pumilum; SOS; CAT; ROS; L.pumilum; RCD1; qPCR; WT; PCR; Na(+)/H(+) antiporter salt overly sensitive 1
• ISSN: 0378-1119; 1879-0038
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147485

•LpSOS1, a gene encoding Na+/H+ antiporter, was isolated from Lilium pumilum and has been found to enhance salt stress tolerance in plants.•Overexpression of LpSOS1 in Arabidopsis enhanced tolerance to salt stress, as indicated by a lower malondialdehyde content; higher levels of the related antioxidant reductases superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase; and a decreased Na+/K+ ratio in transgenic plants.•Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing LpSOS1 demonstrated better growth and development under NaCl stress.•Transgenic lines overexpressing LpSOS1 showed much higher expression of salt stress-related genes under salt treatment compared to wild-type plants. Lilium pumilum has a strong salt tolerance. However, the molecular mechanism underlying its salt tolerance remains unexplored. Here, LpSOS1 was cloned from L. pumilum and found to be significantly enriched at high NaCl concentrations (100 mM). In tobacco epidermal cells, localization analysis showed that the LpSOS1 protein was primarily located in the plasma membrane. Overexpression of LpSOS1 resulted in up-regulation of salt stress tolerance in Arabidopsis, as indicated by reduced malondialdehyde levels and Na+/K+ ratio, and increased activity of antioxidant reductases (including superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase). Treatment with NaCl resulted in improved growth, as evidenced by increased biomass, root length, and lateral root growth, in both sos1 mutant (atsos1) and wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis plants that overexpressed LpSOS1, Under NaCl treatment,atsos1 and WT Arabidopsis plants overexpressing LpSOS1 exhibited better growth, with higher biomass, root length, and lateral root quantity, whereas in the absence of LpSOS1 overexpression, the plants of both lines were wilted and chlorotic and even died under salt stress. When exposed to salt stress, the expression of stress-related genes was notably upregulated in the LpSOS1 overexpression line of Arabidopsis as compared to the WT. Our findings indicate that LpSOS1 enhances salt tolerance in plants by regulating ion homeostasis, reducing Na+/K+ ratio, thereby protecting the plasma membrane from oxidative damage caused by salt stress, and enhancing the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Therefore, the increased salt tolerance conferred by LpSOS1 in plants makes it a potential bioresource for breeding salt-tolerant crops. Further investigation into the mechanisms underlying lily’s resistance to salt stress would be advantageous and could serve as a foundation for future molecular improvements.