Functional Characterization of Cotton GaMYB62L, a Novel R2R3 TF in Transgenic Arabidopsis

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 1; p. e0170578
• Main Authors: Butt, Hamama Islam, Yang, Zhaoen, Chen, Eryong, Zhao, Ge, Gong, Qian, Yang, Zuoren, Zhang, Xueyan, Li, Fuguang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 26.01.2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Abscisic acid; Analysis; Apertures; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biology; Biology and Life Sciences; China; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll content; Cold tolerance; Cotton; Drought; Droughts; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Elongation; Environmental aspects; Environmental stress; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genomes; Genomics; Germination; Germination - genetics; Gossypium - genetics; Gossypium arboreum; Kinases; Laboratories; Low temperature; Osmotic stress; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Roots - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics; Plants, Genetically Modified - growth & development; Proline; Proteins; Research and Analysis Methods; Salt-Tolerance; Salts; Seed germination; Sodium Chloride; Stomata; Stress, Physiological - genetics; Stress, Physiological - physiology; Stresses; Survival; Textile fibers; Transcription; Transcription factors; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transgenic plants; Triticum aestivum; Water deprivation; Water loss; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170578

Drought stress can trigger the production of ABA in plants, in response to adverse conditions, which induces the transcript of stress-related marker genes. The R2R3 MYB TFs are implicated in regulation of various plants developmental, metabolic and multiple environmental stress responses. Here, a R2R3-MYB cloned gene, GaMYB62L, was transformed in Arabidopsis and was functionally characterized. The GaMYB62L protein contains two SANT domains with a conserved R2R3 imperfect repeats. The GaMYB62L cDNA is 1,017 bp with a CDS of 879, encodes a 292-residue polypeptide with MW of 38.78 kD and a pI value of 8.91. Overexpressed GaMYB62L transgenic Arabidopsis have increased proline and chlorophyll content, superior seed germination rate under salt and osmotic stress, less water loss rate with reduced stomatal apertures, high drought avoidance as compared to WT on water deprivation and also significant plant survival rates at low temperature. In addition, overexpressed GaMYB62L lines were more sensitive to ABA mediated germination and root elongation assay. Moreover, ABA induced GaMYB62L overexpression, enhanced the expression of ABA stress related marker genes like RD22, COR15A, ADH1, and RD29A. Together, overexpression of GaMYB62L suggested having developed better drought, salt and cold tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis and thus presented it as a prospective candidate gene to achieve better abiotic stress tolerance in cotton crop.