Overexpression of GhGSTF9 Enhances Salt Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis

• Published in: Genes Vol. 15; no. 6; p. 695
• Main Authors: Li, Huimin, Liu, Yihui, Wu, Jie, Chang, Kexin, Zhang, Guangqiang, Zhao, Hang, Qiu, Nianwei, Bao, Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.05.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis thaliana; cash crops; Cotton; Crop yield; Crops; economic development; family; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Genetic engineering; genetically modified organisms; Glutathione transferase; Glutathione Transferase - genetics; Glutathione Transferase - metabolism; Gossypium - genetics; Metabolism; Metabolites; Molecular modelling; New varieties; Oxidative stress; phenotype; Phenotypes; Plant growth; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics; Reactive oxygen species; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Saline soils; Salinity tolerance; Salt; salt stress; Salt Stress - genetics; salt tolerance; Salt Tolerance - genetics; Salt-Tolerant Plants - genetics; Signal transduction; soil; soil salinization; Soils, Salts in; stress tolerance; Stress, Physiological - genetics; Transcription factors; Transcriptomics; Transgenic plants; China; Beijing China; cotton; salt stress; GhGSTF9; glutathione S-transferase
• ISSN: 2073-4425; 2073-4425
• DOI: 10.3390/genes15060695

Soil salinization is a major abiotic stress factor that negatively impacts plant growth, development, and crop yield, severely limiting agricultural production and economic development. Cotton, a key cash crop, is commonly cultivated as a pioneer crop in regions with saline-alkali soil due to its relatively strong tolerance to salt. This characteristic renders it a valuable subject for investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying plant salt tolerance and for identifying genes that confer salt tolerance. In this study, focus was placed on examining a salt-tolerant variety, E991, and a salt-sensitive variety, ZM24. A combined analysis of transcriptomic data from these cotton varieties led to the identification of potential salt stress-responsive genes within the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family. These versatile enzyme proteins, prevalent in animals, plants, and microorganisms, were demonstrated to be involved in various abiotic stress responses. Our findings indicate that suppressing GhGSTF9 in cotton led to a notably salt-sensitive phenotype, whereas heterologous overexpression in Arabidopsis plants decreases the accumulation of reactive oxygen species under salt stress, thereby enhancing salt stress tolerance. This suggests that GhGSTF9 serves as a positive regulator in cotton’s response to salt stress. These results offer new target genes for developing salt-tolerant cotton varieties.