Wang Pengyu, Yang Xue, Sun Shilin, Wang Jingxin, Wang Jingwen, Li Xiaofu, Li Dandan, Wang Yucheng
College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China.
Key Laboratory of Forest Tree Genetics, Breeding and Cultivation of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, China.
Plant Biotechnol J. 2025 Sep;23(9):3650-3666. doi: 10.1111/pbi.70185. Epub 2025 Jun 9.
The GAI-RGA-and-SCR (GRAS) family of plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) is essential for development and stress tolerance, but their role in drought resistance and growth remains unclear. Here, we characterized the SCARECROW-LIKE (SCL) TF PdbSCL1 from Populus davidiana × P. bolleana, examining its role in drought response and growth. Overexpression of PdbSCL1 improved drought tolerance and growth, while knockout lines exhibited decreased drought tolerance and growth. Under normal conditions, overexpression lines showed a 16.7% increase in height and 14.6% in fresh weight compared with wild-type (WT). Under drought conditions, these increases reached 32.2% and 79.5%, respectively. PdbSCL1 regulates gene expression by binding to DNA motifs such as ABRE ('CACGTG'), PCF ('TGGGCC'), and NFY ('CCAAT'). Drought-induced acetylation of PdbSCL1 at key lysine residues (106 and 444) is critical for its regulatory function. Mutations at these sites impair its ability to regulate gene expression, leading to reduced drought tolerance and growth. PdbSCL1 also interacts with a histone acetyltransferase 3 (PdbHAG3), which catalyses its acetylation, further enhancing drought resilience and growth. These findings highlight the essential role of PdbSCL1 acetylation in both drought response and growth promotion, suggesting its potential application in molecular breeding to improve drought tolerance and growth in poplar.
植物特有的转录因子（TFs）GRAS家族对植物发育和胁迫耐受性至关重要，但其在抗旱性和生长中的作用尚不清楚。在此，我们对来自山杨×小叶杨的 scarecrow 样（SCL）转录因子 PdbSCL1 进行了表征，研究了其在干旱响应和生长中的作用。PdbSCL1 的过表达提高了抗旱性和生长，而敲除株系的抗旱性和生长则降低。在正常条件下，与野生型（WT）相比，过表达株系的株高增加了 16.7%，鲜重增加了 14.6%。在干旱条件下，这些增加分别达到 32.2%和 79.5%。PdbSCL1 通过与 DNA 基序如 ABRE（‘CACGTG’）、PCF（‘TGGGCC’）和 NFY（‘CCAAT’）结合来调节基因表达。干旱诱导的 PdbSCL1 在关键赖氨酸残基（106 和 444）处的乙酰化对其调节功能至关重要。这些位点的突变损害了其调节基因表达的能力，导致抗旱性和生长降低。PdbSCL1 还与组蛋白乙酰转移酶 3（PdbHAG3）相互作用，后者催化其乙酰化，进一步增强抗旱性和生长。这些发现突出了 PdbSCL1 乙酰化在干旱响应和生长促进中的重要作用，表明其在分子育种中改善杨树抗旱性和生长的潜在应用价值。
