Isolation and Identification of (L.) Sweet Gene Encoding a SIMILAR TO RCD-ONE Protein, Which Improves Salt and Drought Tolerance in Transgenic .

is a tropical plant and a wild relative of the food plant sweet potato (), listed as one of the most invasive alien species in China. Recently, it has been reported that had successfully invaded mangrove wetlands, indicating its high salt tolerance. Based on previous genetic studies, offers a good model for characterizing stress-resistant genes. It has recently been identified that the SRO proteins (SIMILAR TO RCD-ONE) play important roles in a variety of stress and developmental responses. Radical-Induced Cell Death1 (RCD1) was the first identified plant SRO protein from . As a typical SRO protein, IcSRO1 had a highly conservative WWE domain, a conserved PARP fold and protein C in the RST function area. The expression of IcSRO1 was induced by salt, drought, and the plant hormone ABA. The transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing IcSRO1 showed higher tolerance against salt and drought stress along with lower accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (HO) and superoxide (O) than the wild type. The IcSRO1 protein was localized in the nucleus after cultivation in the buffer. Our results indicated it could interact with SALT OVERLY SENSITIVE 1 (AtSOS1), suggesting IcSRO1 may have similar functions. The pleiotropic effect of IcSRO1 on physiological processes contributes to the improvement of plant tolerance against diverse abiotic stresses, and may be associated with the adaptation of to those environments with extreme saline and drought conditions. It therefore provides valuable gene resources for crop breeding enhancement.