Dehydrin Protein TaCOR410 Improves Drought Resistance of Wheat Through Autophagy

Drought seriously affects wheat yield; it is therefore important to study the molecular mechanism of wheat resistance to drought stress to ensure national food security. Plants can remove harmful substances through autophagy, thus improving their drought resistance. The results of previous studies have shown that autophagy is involved in the drought stress response; however, the molecular mechanism of autophagy in response to drought stress has yet to be elucidated. In this study, molecular biological methods such as immunohistochemistry, Co-Immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), and pull-down were used to explain the molecular mechanism of autophagy in response to drought stress at the protein level. We found that a dehydrin protein called cold-regulated 410 (TaCOR410) interacts with autophagy-related 8 (TaATG8, a key protein of wheat autophagy). TaCOR410 interacted with TaATG8 through its ATG8-interacting motif (AIM), and interaction was inhibited after mutation of the AIM. Interference with TaCOR410 inhibited autophagy and reduced the drought resistance of wheat. In contrast, transient transfection of TaCOR410 promoted autophagy. In wheat, overexpression of TaATG8 improved the drought resistance of wheat. Following interference with TaATG5, TaATG7 inhibited autophagy and reduced the drought resistance of wheat. From the above results, it is evident that autophagy can improve the drought resistance of wheat and can respond to drought stress through the interaction of TaCOR410 with TaATG8.