Lu Jing, Yang Yonghua, Yin Tongming
State Key Laboratory for Tree Genetics and Breeding, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Biotechnology of Educational Department of China, Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Forestry University, No. 159 Longpan Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing 210037, China.
Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 47 Bateman Street, Cambridge CB2 1LR, UK.
Hortic Res. 2025 Mar 5;12(6):uhaf066. doi: 10.1093/hr/uhaf066. eCollection 2025 Jun.
It is frequently observed that plant sexes differ in their response to environmental stress. Poplars are dioecious plants, and sex separation of poplars is triggered by the sex-limited expression of the poplar sex-determining gene . In this study, we over-expressed in a male poplar and knocked it out in a female poplar. The over-expression lines exhibited distinct morphological and physiological changes rendering the transformed plants more tolerant to drought stress. By contrast, no obvious change in drought tolerance was observed in the knockout lines. Transcriptome sequencing and molecular interaction analysis demonstrated that the effect of FERR on drought tolerance was conferred by competitive interaction with protein phosphatase 2C and SNF1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2). Under drought stress, an FERR-SnRK2s-ARR5 complex forms and activates the ABA signaling pathway. Our results provide direct evidence that the expression of the poplar sex-determining gene pleiotropically affects plant drought tolerance.
人们经常观察到植物的性别在对环境胁迫的反应上存在差异。杨树是雌雄异株植物，杨树的性别分离是由杨树性别决定基因的性别限制表达触发的。在本研究中，我们在雄性杨树中过表达该基因，并在雌性杨树中将其敲除。过表达系表现出明显的形态和生理变化，使转化植株对干旱胁迫更具耐受性。相比之下，敲除系在耐旱性方面未观察到明显变化。转录组测序和分子相互作用分析表明，FERR对耐旱性的影响是通过与蛋白磷酸酶2C和SNF1相关蛋白激酶2（SnRK2）的竞争性相互作用实现的。在干旱胁迫下，形成FERR-SnRK2s-ARR5复合物并激活ABA信号通路。我们的结果提供了直接证据，表明杨树性别决定基因的表达多效性地影响植物的耐旱性。
