A novel salt-induced gene from sheepgrass, LcSAIN2, enhances salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology Biochemistry, 2013 2(15),643-649

A novel salt-induced gene from sheepgrass, LcSAIN2, enhances salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis

Xiaoxia Li, Qiong Gao, Ye Liang, Tian Ma, Liqin Cheng, Dongmei Qi, Hui Liu,Xin Xu, Shuangyan Chen,* Gongshe Liu,*

Abstract:

Salt stress affects plant growth and development, and limits the productivity of crops. Sheepgrass cangrow well under various environmental and soil conditions and is a good wild resource in Triticeae.Using 454 high throughout sequencing technique, a large number of salt stress responsive genes havebeen picked out from sheepgrass. In this study, a novel salt-induced gene and its promoter were clonedand the gene was designated as LcSAIN2 (Leymus chinensis salt-induced 2). Bioinformatics analysispredicted that LcSAIN2 has one transmembrane helix and is localized in nucleus. Experiments of subcellularlocalization in tobacco leaf cells also indicated that it was mainly localized in nucleus. Severalstress responsive elements were found in the promoter region of the LcSAIN2 gene. The ex ressionanalysis confirmed that LcSAIN2 was induced by salinity, PEG, ABA, and cold stresses, especially by highsalinity. Overexpression of LcSAIN2 in Arabidopsis enhanced salt tolerance of transgenic plants by accumulatingosmolytes, such as soluble sugars and free proline, and improving the expression levels of somestress-responsive transcription factors and key genes. Our results suggest that LcSAIN2 might play animportant positive modulation role in salt stress tolerance and be a candidate gene utilized for enhancingstress tolerance in wheat and other crops.

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