Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2023 Oct 29;13(1):18553. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-45771-3.
Drought and extreme temperatures significantly limit chickpea productivity worldwide. The regulation of plant programmed cell death pathways is emerging as a key component of plant stress responses to maintain homeostasis at the cellular-level and a potential target for crop improvement against environmental stresses. Arabidopsis thaliana Bcl-2 associated athanogene 4 (AtBAG4) is a cytoprotective co-chaperone that is linked to plant responses to environmental stress. Here, we investigate whether exogenous expression of AtBAG4 impacts nodulation and nitrogen fixation. Transgenic chickpea lines expressing AtBAG4 are more drought tolerant and produce higher yields under drought stress. Furthermore, AtBAG4 expression supports higher nodulation, photosynthetic levels, nitrogen fixation and seed nitrogen content under well-watered conditions when the plants were inoculated with Mesorhizobium ciceri. Together, our findings illustrate the potential use of cytoprotective chaperones to improve crop performance at least in the greenhouse in future uncertain climates with little to no risk to yield under well-watered and water-deficient conditions.
干旱和极端温度极大地限制了全球鹰嘴豆的生产力。植物程序性细胞死亡途径的调控正成为植物应激反应的关键组成部分，以维持细胞水平的内稳态，并成为提高作物对环境胁迫抗性的潜在目标。拟南芥 Bcl-2 相关抗凋亡基因 4（AtBAG4）是一种细胞保护伴侣蛋白，与植物对环境胁迫的反应有关。在这里，我们研究了外源表达 AtBAG4 是否会影响结瘤和固氮。表达 AtBAG4 的转基因鹰嘴豆品系在干旱胁迫下具有更强的耐旱性和更高的产量。此外，当用Mesorhizobium ciceri 接种时，AtBAG4 的表达在水分充足的条件下支持更高的结瘤、光合作用水平、固氮和种子氮含量。总之，我们的研究结果表明，细胞保护伴侣蛋白在未来不确定的气候条件下，至少在温室中具有提高作物性能的潜力，在水分充足和缺水条件下对产量几乎没有风险。
