Potato NAC Transcription Factor StNAC053 Enhances Salt and Drought Tolerance in Transgenic <i>Arabidopsis</i>

• Main Authors: Qi Wang, Cun Guo, Zhiyuan Li, Jinhao Sun, Zhichao Deng, Lichao Wen, Xiaoxu Li, Yongfeng Guo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: potato; NAC transcription factor; ABA; abiotic stress
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/5/2568

The NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) transcription factors comprise one of the largest transcription factor families in plants and play important roles in stress responses. However, little is known about the functions of potato NAC family members. Here we report the cloning of a potato NAC transcription factor gene <i>StNAC053</i>, which was significantly upregulated after salt, drought, and abscisic acid treatments. Furthermore, the StNAC053-GFP fusion protein was found to be located in the nucleus and had a C-terminal transactivation domain, implying that StNAC053 may function as a transcriptional activator in potato. Notably, <i>Arabidopsis</i> plants overexpressing <i>StNAC053</i> displayed lower seed germination rates compared to wild-type under exogenous ABA treatment. In addition, the <i>StNAC053</i> overexpression <i>Arabidopsis</i> lines displayed significantly increased tolerance to salt and drought stress treatments. Moreover, the <i>StNAC053-OE</i> lines were found to have higher activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) under multiple stress treatments. Interestingly, the expression levels of several stress-related genes including <i>COR15A,</i><i>DREB1A</i>, <i>ERD11</i>, <i>RAB18</i>, <i>ERF5</i>, and <i>KAT2</i>, were significantly upregulated in these <i>StNAC053</i>-overexpressing lines. Taken together, overexpression of the stress-inducible <i>StNAC053</i> gene could enhance the tolerances to both salt and drought stress treatments in <i>Arabidopsis</i>, likely by upregulating stress-related genes.