Allelic variation of TaWD40-4B.1 contributes to drought tolerance by modulating catalase activity in wheat

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 1200
• Main Authors: Tian, Geng, Wang, Shubin, Wu, Jianhui, Wang, Yanxia, Wang, Xiutang, Liu, Shuwei, Han, Dejun, Xia, Guangmin, Wang, Mengcheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02.03.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 45/43; 631/208/8; 631/449/1870; 631/449/2661/2146; 631/449/2675; Alleles; Annual rainfall; Catalase; Catalase - genetics; Crop production; Crop yield; Cultivars; Drought; Drought Resistance; Genes; Genome-wide association studies; Genome-Wide Association Study; Genomes; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogen Peroxide; multidisciplinary; Nucleotides; Oligomerization; Plant Breeding; Plant Proteins - genetics; Rain; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Triticum - genetics; Variation; Wheat
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36901-6

Drought drastically restricts wheat production, so to dissect allelic variations of drought tolerant genes without imposing trade-offs between tolerance and yield is essential to cope with the circumstance. Here, we identify a drought tolerant WD40 protein encoding gene TaWD40-4B.1 of wheat via the genome-wide association study. The full-length allele TaWD40-4B.1 C but not the truncated allele TaWD40-4B.1 T possessing a nonsense nucleotide variation enhances drought tolerance and grain yield of wheat under drought. TaWD40-4B.1 C interacts with canonical catalases, promotes their oligomerization and activities, and reduces H 2 O 2 levels under drought. The knock-down of catalase genes erases the role of TaWD40-4B.1 C in drought tolerance. TaWD40-4B.1 C proportion in wheat accessions is negatively correlative with the annual rainfall, suggesting this allele may be selected during wheat breeding. The introgression of TaWD40-4B.1 C enhances drought tolerance of the cultivar harboring TaWD40-4B.1 T . Therefore, TaWD40-4B.1 C could be useful for molecular breeding of drought tolerant wheat. Drought stress limits wheat production around the world. Here, the authors report allelic variation of a WD40 encoding gene TaWD40-4B.1 contributes to wheat drought tolerance by interacting with canonical catalases as a chaperone to promote their activities to avoid ROS over accumulation.