title: ZmCIPK21, a maize CBL-interacting kinase, enhances salt stress tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Salt stress represents an increasing threat to crop growth and yield in saline soil. In this study, we identified a maize calcineurin B-like protein-interacting protein kinase (CIPK), ZmCIPK21, which was primarily localized in the cytoplasm and the nucleus of cells and displayed enhanced expression under salt stress. Over-expression of ZmCIPK21 in wild-type Arabidopsis plants increased their tolerance to salt, as supported by the longer root lengths and improved growth. The downstream stress-response genes, including dehydration-responsive element-binding (DREB) genes were also activated in transgenic plants over-expressing ZmCIPK21. In addition, introduction of the transgenic ZmCIPK21 gene into the Arabidopsis mutant cipk1-2 rescued the salt-sensitive phenotype under high salt stress. Measurement of Na+ and K+ content in transgenic plants showed that over-expression of ZmCIPK21 decreased accumulation of Na+ and allowed retention of relatively high levels of K+, thereby enhancing plant tolerance to salt conditions.
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Beijing 100094, China. chenxj713@163.com.
authors.forename: Xunji
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Technology and Biotechnology, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 403 Nanchang Road, Urumqi 830091, China. hquansheng@126.com.
authors.forename: Quansheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Beijing 100094, China. mumizhongfeng@126.com.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Beijing 100094, China. wbgzu8307@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Beijing 100094, China. wangjh63@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China. zhengjun02@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D012965:Sodium Chloride; C507144:CIPK1 protein, Arabidopsis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases