The pepper late embryogenesis abundant protein CaLEA1 acts in regulating abscisic acid signaling, drought and salt stress response. Issue 4 (8th November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lim, Chae Woo; Lim, Sohee; Baek, Woonhee; Lee, Sung Chul
• Is Part Of: Physiologia plantarum. Volume 154:Issue 4(2015:Aug.)
• Page Start: 526
• Page End: 542
• Publication Date: 2014-11-08
• Subjects: Plant physiology -- Periodicals; 571.2
• DOI: 10.1111/ppl.12298
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0031-9317

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="ppl12298-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p id="ppl12298-para-0001">As sessile organisms, plants are constantly challenged by environmental stresses, including drought and high salinity. Among the various abiotic stresses, osmotic stress is one of the most important factors for growth and significantly reduces crop productivity in agriculture. Here, we report a function of the CaLEA1 protein in the defense responses of plants to osmotic stress. Our analyses showed that the <italic>CaLEA1</italic> gene was strongly induced in pepper leaves exposed to drought and increased salinity. Furthermore, we determined that the CaLEA1 protein has a late embryogenesis abundant (LEA)_3 homolog domain highly conserved among other known group 5 LEA proteins and is localized in the processing body. We generated <italic>CaLEA1</italic>‐silenced peppers and <italic>CaLEA1</italic>‐overexpressing (OX) transgenic Arabidopsis plants to evaluate their responses to dehydration and high salinity. Virus‐induced gene silencing of <italic>CaLEA1</italic> in pepper plants conferred enhanced sensitivity to drought and salt stresses, which was accompanied by high levels of lipid peroxidation in dehydrated and NaCl‐treated leaves. <italic>CaLEA1</italic>‐OX plants exhibited enhanced sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA) during seed germination and in the seedling stage; furthermore, these plants were more tolerant to drought and salt stress than the wild‐type plants because of enhanced stomatal closure and increased expression of stress‐responsive genes. Collectively, our data suggest that <italic>CaLEA1</italic> positively regulates drought and salinity tolerance through ABA‐mediated cell signaling.</p> </abstract>