Overexpression of Peroxidase Gene Confers Salt Tolerance in Soybean.

Peroxidases play prominent roles in antioxidant responses and stress tolerance in plants; however, their functions in soybean tolerance to salt stress remain unclear. Here, we investigated the role of a peroxidase gene from the wild soybean (), , in soybean tolerance to salt stress. gene expression was induced by salt treatment in the roots of both salt-tolerant and -sensitive soybean varieties, and its relative expression level in the roots of salt-tolerant soybean varieties showed a significantly higher increase than in salt-sensitive varieties after NaCl treatment, suggesting its possible role in soybean response to salt stress. -overexpressing yeast (strains of INVSc1 and G19) grew better than the control under salt and HO stress, and -overexpressing soybean composite plants showed higher shoot fresh weight and leaf relative water content than control plants after NaCl treatment. Moreover, the -overexpressing soybean hairy roots had higher root fresh weight, primary root length, activities of peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, and glutathione level, but lower HO content than those in control roots under salt stress. These findings suggest that the overexpression of the gene enhanced the salt tolerance and antioxidant response in soybean. This study would provide new insights into the role of peroxidase in plant tolerance to salt stress.