title: Overexpression of Rosa rugosa anthocyanidin reductase enhances tobacco tolerance to abiotic stress through increased ROS scavenging and modulation of ABA signaling.
abstract: Anthocyanidin reductase (ANR) is a key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of proanthocyanidins (PAs) and plays a role in the plant stress response. However, the mechanism by which ANR confers stress tolerance in plants is not understood. Here, we report the isolation of RrANR, the homologous gene from rose, and NtABF, an ABA-response related transcription factor gene from tobacco. These genes were characterized regarding their functions in stress responses through the use of transgenic, transcriptomic and physiological analyses. Over-expression of RrANR in tobacco resulted in an increased accumulation of both PAs and abscisic acid (ABA), and also enhanced stress tolerance. Transcriptomic analysis of these transgenic tobacco lines indicated that RrANR overexpression induced global transcriptomic changes, including these involved in oxidation/reduction, hormone response and secondary metabolism. Genes related to ABA biosynthesis and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging were up-regulated in RrANR transgenic lines, and these effects were phenocopied by the direct treatment of tobacco plants with PAs and ABA. Transcriptomic data from each of these treatments identified the upregulation of a putative NtABF. Furthermore, the up-regulation of NtABF in RrANR transformants or in PAs- and ABA-treated tobacco plants was associated with enhanced stress tolerance. Overexpression of NtABF in transgenic tobacco mimicked the effects of RrANR-transgenic plants with regard to the up-regulation of ROS-scavenging genes and an increase in oxidative tolerance. Taken together, our findings indicate that overexpression of RrANR results in an increase in plant tolerance to oxidative stress via increased scavenging of ROS and modulation of the ABA signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Yuxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: National key laboratory of Crop Genetics and Improvement, College of Plant Science & Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuangxia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National key laboratory of Crop Genetics and Improvement, College of Plant Science & Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Penghui
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National key laboratory of Crop Genetics and Improvement, College of Plant Science & Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Manzhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China. Electronic address: ggning@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guogui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ning
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000378:metabolism; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000378:metabolism; D009247:NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010269:Paraquat / Q000494:pharmacology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D044945:Proanthocyanidins / Q000378:metabolism; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D027826:Rosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D013481:Superoxides / Q000378:metabolism; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D005419:Flavonoids; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D010940:Plant Proteins; D044945:Proanthocyanidins; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013481:Superoxides; D000040:Abscisic Acid; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D009247:NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases; D010269:Paraquat
keywords: ABA; ABF; ANR; Proanthocyanidins; ROS; Stress tolerance