College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China; Henan International Joint Laboratory of Aquatic Toxicology and Health Protection, College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China.
College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Mar;262(Pt 2):129971. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.129971. Epub 2024 Feb 12.
Soil drought and salinization, caused by water deficiency, have become the greatest concerns limiting crop production. Up to now, the WRKY transcription factor and histone deacetylase have been shown to be involved in drought and salt responses. However, the molecular mechanism underlying their interaction remains unclear in cotton. Herein, we identified GhWRKY4, a member of WRKY gene family, which is induced by drought and salt stress and is located in the nucleus. The ectopic expression of GhWRKY4 in Arabidopsis enhanced drought and salt tolerance, and suppressing GhWRKY4 in cotton increased susceptibility to drought and salinity. Subsequently, DAP-seq analysis revealed that the W box element in the promoter of stress-induced genes could potentially be the binding target for GhWRKY4 protein. GhWRKY4 binds to the promoters of GhHDA8 and GhNHX7 via W box element, and the expression level of GhHDA8 was increased in GhWRKY4-silenced plants. In addition, GhHDA8-overexpressed Arabidopsis were found to be hypersensitive to drought and salt stress, while silencing of GhHDA8 enhanced drought and salt tolerance in cotton. The stress-related genes, such as GhDREB2A, GhRD22, GhP5CS, and GhNHX7, were induced in GhHDA8-silenced plants. Our findings indicate that the GhWRKY4-GhHDA8 module regulates drought and salt tolerance in cotton. Collectively, the results provide new insights into the coordination of transcription factors and histone deacetylases in regulating drought and salt stress responses in plants.
土壤干旱和盐渍化是由缺水引起的，已成为限制作物生产的最大问题。迄今为止，WRKY 转录因子和组蛋白去乙酰化酶已被证明参与了干旱和盐胁迫反应。然而，它们相互作用的分子机制在棉花中仍不清楚。在此，我们鉴定了 GhWRKY4，它是 WRKY 基因家族的一个成员，受干旱和盐胁迫诱导，位于细胞核内。GhWRKY4 在拟南芥中的异位表达增强了对干旱和盐胁迫的耐受性，而在棉花中抑制 GhWRKY4 则增加了对干旱和盐胁迫的敏感性。随后，DAP-seq 分析表明，胁迫诱导基因启动子中的 W 框元件可能是 GhWRKY4 蛋白的结合靶标。GhWRKY4 通过 W 框元件结合到 GhHDA8 和 GhNHX7 的启动子上，并且在 GhWRKY4 沉默的植物中 GhHDA8 的表达水平增加。此外，发现 GhHDA8 过表达的拟南芥对干旱和盐胁迫敏感，而 GhHDA8 沉默增强了棉花的耐旱性和耐盐性。GhDREB2A、GhRD22、GhP5CS 和 GhNHX7 等与胁迫相关的基因在 GhHDA8 沉默的植物中被诱导。我们的研究结果表明，GhWRKY4-GhHDA8 模块调节棉花的耐旱性和耐盐性。总之，这些结果为转录因子和组蛋白去乙酰化酶在调节植物对干旱和盐胁迫反应中的协调作用提供了新的见解。
