Ectopic Expression of , a Soybean Inositol Polyphosphate 5-Phosphatase, Enhances Salt Tolerance in Plants.

Inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatases (5PTases) function in inositol signaling by regulating the catabolism of phosphoinositol derivatives. Previous reports showed that 5PTases play a critical role in plant development and stress responses. In this study, we identified a novel 5PTase gene, , from the salt-tolerance locus of chromosome 3 in wild soybean ( ). is highly up-regulated under salt treatment. It is localized in the nucleus and plasma membrane with a strong signal in the apoplast. Ectopic expression of significantly increased salt tolerance in transgenic BY-2 cells, soybean hairy roots and Arabidopsis, suggesting Gs5PTase8 could increase salt tolerance in plants. The overexpression of significantly enhanced the activities of catalase and ascorbate peroxidase under salt stress. The seeds of -transgenic Arabidopsis germinated earlier than the wild type under abscisic acid treatment, indicating Gs5PTase8 would alter ABA sensitivity. Besides, transcriptional analyses showed that the stress-responsive genes, , and , were induced with a higher level in the -transgenic Arabidopsis plants than in the wild type under salt stress. These results reveal that Gs5PTase8 play a positive role in salt tolerance and might be a candidate gene for improving soybean adaptation to salt stress.