title: Silencing of dehydrin CaDHN1 diminishes tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses in Capsicum annuum L.
abstract: We cloned a dehydrins gene CaDHN1 from pepper and the expression of CaDHN1 was markedly upregulated by cold, salt, osmotic stresses and salicylic acid (SA) treatment. Dehydrins (DHNs) are a subfamily of group 2 late embryogenesis-abundant (LEA) proteins that are thought to play an important role in enhancing abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this study, a DHN EST (Expressed Sequence Tag) was obtained from 6 to 8 true leaves seedlings of pepper cv P70 (Capsicum annuum L.) by our laboratory. However, the DHN gene in pepper was not well characterized. According to this EST sequence, we isolated a DHN gene, designated as CaDHN1, and investigated the response and expression of this gene under various stresses. Our results indicated that CaDHN1 has the DHN-specific and conserved K- and S- domain and encodes 219 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CaDHN1 belonged to the SKn subgroup. Tissue expression profile analysis revealed that CaDH N1 was expressed predominantly in fruits and flowers. The expression of CaDHN1 was markedly upregulated in response to cold, salt, osmotic stresses and salicylic acid (SA) treatment, but no significant change by abscisic acid (ABA) and heavy metals treatment. Loss of function of CaDHN1 using the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technique led to decreased tolerance to cold-, salt- and osmotic-induced stresses. Overall, these results suggest that CaDHN1 plays an important role in regulating the abiotic stress resistance in pepper plants.
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. rugangchen@126.com.
authors.forename: Ru-gang
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China.|School of Horticulture Landscape Architecture, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Wei-li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vegetable Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210014, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vegetable Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210014, China.
authors.forename: Bao-Gui
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. zhgong@nwsuaf.edu.cn.|Institute of Vegetable Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210014, China. zhgong@nwsuaf.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhen-Hui
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002212:Capsicum / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020868:Gene Silencing; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D010802:Phylogeny; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020156:Salicylic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D036226:Seedlings / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D010940:Plant Proteins; C070556:dehydrin proteins, plant; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D000040:Abscisic Acid; D020156:Salicylic Acid
keywords: Abiotic stress response; CaDHN1; Capsicum annuum L; Expression analysis; Gene silencing