Li Wenrui, Yu Jiachen, Wang Ruihong, Jia Yanyan, Xun Lulu, Liang Zongsuo
School of Food Science and Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710021, China.
School of Food Science and Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710021, China.
Plant Physiol Biochem. 2025 Apr;221:109669. doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2025.109669. Epub 2025 Feb 18.
Abiotic stresses limit crop growth and yield. GRAS transcription factors (TFs) are plant-specific TFs that play an important role in many plant processes, including abiotic stress response. However, there are few studies on the involvement of the GRAS gene in stress response in Salvia miltiorrhiza. This study identified a GRAS TF from S. miltiorrhiza, named SmGRAS5, which belongs to the scarecrow-like 3 (SCL3) group involved in root formation. Transcriptome analysis showed that the SmGRAS5 overexpressed (OE) lines of S. miltiorrhiza expressed many genes related to stress response and secondary metabolism. SmGRAS5 was strongly induced by drought and high salinity. Overexpression of SmGRAS5 could improved drought and salt tolerance in transgenic S. miltiorrhiza plants by regulating stress-related genes. Physiological tests showed that transgenic plants had higher chlorophyll content, photosynthetic capacity, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase activities (CAT), which enhanced plant drought resistance and salt tolerance. In addition, the content of tanshinones in transgenic SmGRAS5 was significantly increased, and most genes of related biosynthetic pathways were up-regulated. These results may provide a candidate gene involved in abiotic stress response and secondary metabolism and provide a theoretical basis for elucking the mechanisms of SmGRAS5 in abiotic stress response of S. miltiorrhiza.
非生物胁迫限制了作物的生长和产量。GRAS转录因子是植物特有的转录因子，在包括非生物胁迫响应在内的许多植物过程中发挥重要作用。然而，关于GRAS基因参与丹参胁迫响应的研究较少。本研究从丹参中鉴定出一个GRAS转录因子，命名为SmGRAS5，它属于参与根形成的稻草人样3（SCL3）组。转录组分析表明，丹参SmGRAS5过表达（OE）系表达了许多与胁迫响应和次生代谢相关的基因。SmGRAS5受到干旱和高盐的强烈诱导。过表达SmGRAS5可以通过调节胁迫相关基因提高转基因丹参植株的耐旱性和耐盐性。生理测试表明，转基因植株具有较高的叶绿素含量、光合能力、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化物酶（POD）和过氧化氢酶活性（CAT），增强了植株的抗旱性和耐盐性。此外，转基因SmGRAS5中丹参酮的含量显著增加，相关生物合成途径的大多数基因上调。这些结果可能为参与非生物胁迫响应和次生代谢的候选基因提供依据，并为阐明SmGRAS5在丹参非生物胁迫响应中的机制提供理论基础。
