Heterologous Expression of a C2H2 Zinc Finger Gene Improves Aluminum Tolerance in .

Aluminum (Al) toxicity limits plant growth and has a major impact on the agricultural productivity in acidic soils. The zinc-finger protein (ZFP) family plays multiple roles in plant development and abiotic stresses. Although previous reports have confirmed the function of these genes, their transcriptional mechanisms in wild soybean () are unclear. In this study, was isolated from Al-tolerant wild soybean gene expression profiles to be functionally characterized in . Laser confocal microscopic observations demonstrated that GsGIS3 is a nuclear protein, containing one C2H2 zinc-finger structure. Our results show that the expression of was of a much higher level in the stem than in the leaf and root and was upregulated under AlCl, NaCl or GA3 treatment. Compared to the control, overexpression of in improved Al tolerance in transgenic lines with more root growth, higher proline and lower Malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation under concentrations of AlCl. Analysis of hematoxylin staining indicated that enhanced the resistance of transgenic plants to Al toxicity by reducing Al accumulation in roots. Moreover, expression in enhanced the expression of Al-tolerance-related genes. Taken together, our findings indicate that , as a C2H2 ZFP, may enhance tolerance to Al toxicity through positive regulation of Al-tolerance-related genes.