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Published on: April 17, 2016
LcRAV2 regulates drought resistance in litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn) through a potential LcSnRK1-mediated
Yongkang Nong1, Zhen Tao1, Shilan Xu2
1State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
Abstract:
Drought stress severely affects the flowering and fruit set of litchi, while the molecular mechanism of the RAV transcription factor in litchi drought resistance remains unclear. In this study, we systematically evaluated the leaf drought tolerance characteristics of 32 litchi cultivars and identified highly dehydration tolerant cultivars including 'Hongdenglong' and 'Nuomici', a moderately dehydration tolerant cultivar 'Qingrenli', as well as weakly dehydration tolerant cultivars 'Nanjuhong' and 'Hongxiuqiu'. Physiological analysis showed that litchi leaves cope with drought by increasing the contents of osmoregulatory substances, such as soluble sugars, soluble proteins, and proline, and activating the activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), to enhance dehydration tolerance. Characterization at the molecular level revealed that dehydration stress significantly induced the expression of the LcRAV2 gene and its protein synthesis. We transiently overexpressed LcRAV2 in litchi leaves and found that its overexpression significantly enhanced leaf water retention capacity, increased antioxidant enzyme activities, and activated the transcription of drought-responsive genes (LcMAPKKK17, LcCAT1, LcDREB2, and LcSnRK1γ). This study reveals for the first time the core mechanism of the LcSnRK1-LcRAV2 phosphorylation module in regulating litchi drought tolerance. LcRAV2 can specifically interact with the protein kinases LcSnRK1α and LcSnRK1β, and LcSnRK1 can phosphorylate LcRAV2; furthermore, dehydration stress induce the phosphorylation modification of the LcRAV2 protein, thereby enhancing the dehydration tolerance of litchi. This study uncovers the physiological and molecular mechanisms by which the LcSnRK1-LcRAV2 module regulates litchi dehydration tolerance, providing an important theoretical basis for the selection and breeding of drought-tolerant litchi germplasm resources.
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