Geng Shiying, Lin Ziqing, Xie Shipeng, Xiao Jinzhong, Wang Haiyan, Zhao Xi, Zhou Yuyi, Duan Liusheng
Engineering Research Center of Plant Growth Regulator, Ministry of Education & College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan Xi Lu, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China; State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan Xi Lu, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China.
Engineering Research Center of Plant Growth Regulator, Ministry of Education & College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan Xi Lu, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China.
J Plant Physiol. 2023 Aug;287:154042. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2023.154042. Epub 2023 Jun 16.
Waterlogging negatively affects maize growth and yield. In this study, we found that ethylene played a vital role in plant adaptation to waterlogging. ET promotes better growth in seedlings under waterlogging conditions by altering root architecture and increasing lateral root formation by 42.1%. What's more, plants with high endogenous ethylene levels exhibited reduced sensitivity to waterlogging stress. ET also induced the formation of aerenchyma, a specialized tissue that facilitates gas exchange, in a different pattern compared to aerenchyma formed under waterlogging. Aerenchyma induced by ET was mainly located in the medial cortex of the roots and was not prone to decay. ethylene inhibited root elongation under normal conditions, but this inhibition was not alleviated under waterlogging stress. Upon activation of the ET signaling pathway, the transcription factor EREB90 promoted aerenchyma formation by enhancing the programmed cell death process. Overexpression of EREB90 resulted in increased waterlogging tolerance compared to wild type plants. Our findings suggest that pre-treatment of maize seedlings with ET before waterlogging stress can trigger the programmed cell death process and induce aerenchyma formation, thus improving waterlogging resistance.
涝害对玉米生长和产量有负面影响。在本研究中，我们发现乙烯在植物适应涝害过程中发挥着至关重要的作用。乙烯通过改变根系结构并使侧根形成增加42.1%，从而促进淹水条件下幼苗更好地生长。此外，内源性乙烯水平高的植株对涝害胁迫的敏感性降低。乙烯还以与涝害条件下形成的通气组织不同的模式诱导通气组织的形成。乙烯诱导形成的通气组织主要位于根的中皮层，且不易腐烂。乙烯在正常条件下会抑制根的伸长，但在涝害胁迫下这种抑制并未得到缓解。激活乙烯信号通路后，转录因子EREB90通过增强程序性细胞死亡过程促进通气组织的形成。与野生型植株相比，EREB90过表达导致耐涝性增强。我们的研究结果表明，在涝害胁迫前用乙烯预处理玉米幼苗可触发程序性细胞死亡过程并诱导通气组织的形成，从而提高耐涝性。
