title: Molecular characterization and function analysis of SlNAC2 in Suaeda liaotungensis K.
abstract: The plant-specific NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC) transcription factors have diverse roles in plant development and stress responses. In this study, a stress-responsive NAC gene, SlNAC2, was isolated and characterized from high-throughput Solexa sequencing of Suaeda liaotungensis. SlNAC2 showed high similarity to other NACs, especially ATAF subgroup members. Transcripts of SlNAC2 appeared in many Suaeda tissues including leaves, stems and roots. In particular, SlNAC2 was strongly expressed in leaves. Expression analysis showed that SlNAC2 was highly induced during salt and low temperature stress in leaves. Subcellular localization showed that the SlNAC2 protein localized to the nucleus. A transactivation assay in yeast demonstrated that SlNAC2 activated the expression of a reporter gene. To test its function, SlNAC2 was transformed into Arabidopsis under the control of the CaMV-35S promoter. Functional analysis showed that its overexpression resulted in enhanced tolerance to salinity stress. Therefore, SlNAC2 is a multifunctional regulatory factor in plants, and might be a good candidate gene for genetic improvement to produce stress tolerant plants.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Liaoning Normal University, Key Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology of Liaoning Province, Dalian 116081, PR China. Electronic address: yangxing361@163.com.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Liaoning Normal University, Key Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology of Liaoning Province, Dalian 116081, PR China. Electronic address: hyx312312@126.com.
authors.forename: Yu-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Liaoning Normal University, Key Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology of Liaoning Province, Dalian 116081, PR China. Electronic address: lixiaolanl@139.com.
authors.forename: Xiao-Lan
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Liaoning Normal University, Key Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology of Liaoning Province, Dalian 116081, PR China. Electronic address: yuxd945@sina.com.
authors.forename: Xiao-Dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Liaoning Normal University, Key Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology of Liaoning Province, Dalian 116081, PR China. Electronic address: skyliqiuli@163.com.
authors.forename: Qiu-Li
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019663:Chenopodiaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D055049:Salt Tolerance / Q000235:genetics*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Abiotic stress; Gene expression; NAC transcription factors; Suaeda liaotungensis K.