title: The wheat MAP kinase phosphatase 1 alleviates salt stress and increases antioxidant activities in Arabidopsis.
abstract: Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatases (MKPs) are important negative regulators in the MAPK signaling pathways, which play crucial roles in plant growth, development and stress responses. We have previously shown that the heterologous expression of a durum wheat MKP, TMKP1, results in increased tolerance to salt stress in yeast but its particular contribution in salt stress tolerance in plants was not investigated. Here, TMKP1 was overexpressed in Arabidopsis thaliana and physiological changes were assessed in transgenic plants exposed to stress conditions. Under salt stress and especially LiCl, the TMKP1 overexpressors displayed higher germination rates in comparison to wild type plants. The enhancement of salt stress tolerance was accompanied by increased antioxidant enzyme activities, namely superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxydases. Such increases in antioxidant activities were concomitant with lower malondialdehyde, superoxide anion O2(-) and hydrogen peroxide levels in the TMKP1 transgenic seedlings. Moreover, we provide evidence that, in contrast to the Arabidopsis ortholog AtMKP1, TMKP1 acts as a positive regulator of salt stress tolerance via its ectopic expression in the Arabidopsis mkp1 mutant.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biotechnology and Plant Improvement, Center of Biotechnology of Sfax, BP1177, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Ikram
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biotechnology and Plant Improvement, Center of Biotechnology of Sfax, BP1177, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia; University of Sfax, Institute of Biotechnology, BP "1175", 3038 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ebel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biotechnology and Plant Improvement, Center of Biotechnology of Sfax, BP1177, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Nibras
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Belgaroui
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biotechnology and Plant Improvement, Center of Biotechnology of Sfax, BP1177, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mouna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghorbel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biotechnology and Plant Improvement, Center of Biotechnology of Sfax, BP1177, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Imène
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amara
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biotechnology and Plant Improvement, Center of Biotechnology of Sfax, BP1177, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia; University of Sfax, Institute of Biotechnology, BP "1175", 3038 Sfax, Tunisia. Electronic address: moez.hanin@cbs.rnrt.tn.
authors.forename: Moez
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanin
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D054638:Dual Specificity Phosphatase 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018525:Germination / Q000187:drug effects; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D036226:Seedlings / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014908:Triticum / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D054638:Dual Specificity Phosphatase 1
keywords: Durum wheat; MAPK signaling; Oxidative stress; Salt stress tolerance; TMKP1