title: CarNAC4, a NAC-type chickpea transcription factor conferring enhanced drought and salt stress tolerances in Arabidopsis.
abstract: CarNAC4 is a typical stress-responsive NAC transcription factor and enhances drought and salt stress tolerances in transgenic Arabidopsis. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is relatively vulnerable to abiotic stress conditions, but the tolerance mechanisms for such stresses in chickpea are largely unknown. To identify stress-related factors in chickpea, we previously constructed a cDNA library of chickpea leaves exposed to drought stress conditions. A cDNA encoding a putative NAC transcription factor (CarNAC4) was identified as a putative stress-responsive gene. Our study indicated that the transcript levels of CarNAC4 were enhanced in response to several abiotic stresses and phytohormones. Promoter analysis demonstrated that multiple stress-related cis-acting elements exist in promoter region of CarNAC4. CarNAC4 is localized in the nucleus and binds to the DNA sequence containing CGT[G/A], while the C-terminal region of CarNAC4 contains a transcriptional activation domain. Over-expression of CarNAC4 in Arabidopsis plants improved tolerance to drought and salt stresses. Transgenic plants exhibited greater reduced rates of water loss and more proline accumulation than Col-0 plants under drought stress and less MDA contents than Col-0 plants under salt stress. In addition, over-expression of CarNAC4 enhanced the expression of stress-responsive genes such as RD29A, ERD10, COR15A, COR47, KIN1 and DREB2A. These results indicated that CarNAC4 functions as a transcription factor involved in the regulation of drought and salt stress response.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Xingwang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Yanmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Zhankui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Yingjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection, Guangxi Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guilin, China.|College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Desert in the Arid Areas, College of Grassland and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, 830052, China.
authors.forename: Abudoukeyumu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mijiti
authors.affiliation: Institute of Desert in the Arid Areas, College of Grassland and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, 830052, China.
authors.forename: Ze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Desert in the Arid Areas, College of Grassland and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, 830052, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China. Lq-ncsi@njau.edu.cn.|Institute of Desert in the Arid Areas, College of Grassland and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, 830052, China. Lq-ncsi@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D029863:Cicer / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D055864:Droughts; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D020218:Response Elements / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055049:Salt Tolerance / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D008315:Malondialdehyde
keywords: Chickpea; NAC transcription factor; Stress tolerance; Transgenic plants