title: PAD4, LSD1 and EDS1 regulate drought tolerance, plant biomass production, and cell wall properties.
abstract: Arabidopsis and poplar with modified PAD4, LSD1 and EDS1 genes exhibit successful growth under drought stress. The acclimatory strategies depend on cell division/cell death control and altered cell wall composition. The increase of plant tolerance towards environmental stresses would open much opportunity for successful plant cultivation in these areas that were previously considered as ineligible, e.g. in areas with poor irrigation. In this study, we performed functional analysis of proteins encoded by PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT 4 (PAD4), LESION SIMULATING DISEASE 1 (LSD1) and ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY 1 (EDS1) genes to explain their role in drought tolerance and biomass production in two different species: Arabidopsis thaliana and Populus tremula × tremuloides. Arabidopsis mutants pad4-5, lsd1-1, eds1-1 and transgenic poplar lines PAD4-RNAi, LSD1-RNAi and ESD1-RNAi were examined in terms of different morphological and physiological parameters. Our experiments proved that Arabidopsis PAD4, LSD1 and EDS1 play an important role in survival under drought stress and regulate plant vegetative and generative growth. Biomass production and acclimatory strategies in poplar were also orchestrated via a genetic system of PAD4 and LSD1 which balanced the cell division and cell death processes. Furthermore, improved rate of cell division/cell differentiation and altered physical properties of poplar wood were the outcome of PAD4- and LSD1-dependent changes in cell wall structure and composition. Our results demonstrate that PAD4, LSD1 and EDS1 constitute a molecular hub, which integrates plant responses to water stress, vegetative biomass production and generative development. The applicable goal of our research was to generate transgenic plants with regulatory mechanism that perceives stress signals to optimize plant growth and biomass production in semi-stress field conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Horticulture, Biotechnology and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.|The Franciszek Górski Institute of Plant Physiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szechyńska-Hebda
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Horticulture, Biotechnology and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.|Department of Botany, Faculty of Agriculture and Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Weronika
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Czarnocka
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hebda
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Horticulture, Biotechnology and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Maciej J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bernacki
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Horticulture, Biotechnology and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. stanislaw_karpinski@sggw.pl.
authors.forename: Stanisław
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karpiński
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018533:Biomass; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D055864:Droughts; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D009154:Mutation; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D032107:Populus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C118837:EDS1 protein, Arabidopsis; C104920:LSD1 protein, Arabidopsis; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases; C400766:PAD4 protein, Arabidopsis
keywords: Biomass; Cell wall; EDS1; LSD1; PAD4; Water stress