PtrVCS2 Regulates Drought Resistance by Changing Vessel Morphology and Stomatal Closure in Populus trichocarpa

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 5; p. 4458
• Main Authors: Li, Meng, Dong, Hao, Li, Jiyuan, Dai, Xiufang, Lin, Jiaojiao, Li, Shuang, Zhou, Chenguang, Chiang, Vincent L, Li, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 24.02.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Abscisic acid; Adaptability; Biosynthesis; Cell walls; chronic stress; Drought; Drought Resistance; drought stress; Droughts; Forest productivity; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene regulation; Genes; Genotypes; Homeobox; Hormones; Hydraulics; Lignin; Phenotypes; Photosynthesis; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Stomata - metabolism; Plants (botany); Plants, Genetically Modified - metabolism; Populus - genetics; Populus trichocarpa; Populus trichocarpa (Black Cottonwood); stem developing xylem; Stomata; stomata aperture; Stress, Physiological - genetics; Transcription factors; transcriptomic sequencing; Transgenic plants; Water - metabolism; Water use; stem developing xylem; stomata aperture; drought stress; chronic stress; transcriptomic sequencing; Populus trichocarpa (Black Cottonwood)
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms24054458

Drought has severe effects on plant growth, forest productivity, and survival throughout the world. Understanding the molecular regulation of drought resistance in forest trees can enable effective strategic engineering of novel drought-resistant genotypes of tree species. In this study, we identified a gene, , encoding a zinc finger (ZF) protein of the ZF-homeodomain transcription factor in (Black Cottonwood) Torr. & A. Gray. ex Hook. Overexpression of ( ) in resulted in reduced growth, a higher proportion of smaller stem vessels, and strong drought-resistance phenotypes. Stomatal movement experiments revealed that the transgenics showed lower stomata apertures than wild-type plants under drought conditions. RNA-seq analysis of the transgenics showed that regulates the expression of multiple genes involved in regulation of stomatal opening and closing, particularly the gene, and several genes related to cell wall biosynthesis, such as and Moreover, we found that the water use efficiency of the transgenic plants was consistently higher than that of wild type plants when subjected to chronic drought stress. Taken together, our results suggest that plays a positive role in improving drought adaptability and resistance in .