title: Overexpression of a PLDα1 gene from Setaria italica enhances the sensitivity of Arabidopsis to abscisic acid and improves its drought tolerance.
abstract: Phospholipase D (PLD) plays an important role in various physiological processes in plants, including drought tolerance. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of the full-length cDNA of PLDalpha1 from foxtail millet, which is a cereal crop with high water use efficiency. The expression pattern of the SiPLDalpha1 gene in foxtail millet revealed that it is up-regulated under dehydration, ABA and NaCl treatments. Heterologous overexpression of SiPLDalpha1 in Arabidopsis can significantly enhance their sensitivity to ABA, NaCl and mannitol during post-germination growth. Under water deprivation, overexpression of SiPLDalpha1 in Arabidopsis resulted in significantly enhanced tolerance to drought stress, displaying higher biomass and RWC, lower ion leakage and higher survival percentages than the wild type. Further analysis indicated that transgenic plants showed increased transcription of the stress-related genes, RD29A, RD29B, RAB18 and RD22, and the ABA-related genes, ABI1 and NCED3 under dehydration conditions. These results demonstrate that SiPLDalpha1 is involved in plant stress signal transduction, especially in the ABA signaling pathway. Moreover, no obvious adverse effects on growth and development in the 35S::SiPLDalpha1 transgenic plants implied that SiPLDalpha1 is a good candidate gene for improving crop drought tolerance.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Yunling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Jinpeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gaoyi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Yuanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xihui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Minhui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Guoying
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D003681:Dehydration / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D055864:Droughts; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D010739:Phospholipase D / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D032983:Setaria Plant / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000040:Abscisic Acid; D010739:Phospholipase D; C106801:phospholipase D1