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Molecular Insight of Plants Response to Drought Stress

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 10492

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Isabel Marques

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Guest Editor

Forest Research Centre (CEF), Higher Institute of Agronomy, Edificio Ferreira Lapa, University of Lisbon, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: evolution; agro-forestry; biomarkers; genomics; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Honghong Hu

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Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
Interests: biology; CO₂ signaling; abiotic stress

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drought is one of the main abiotic stresses to plants. This multidimensional stress affects plants at several levels of their organization, including their phenology, physiological behavior and morphological changes. Drought not only reduces plant growth but also suppresses development, leading to a reduction in flower production, grain filling, and yield production.

At the molecular level, several drought-responsive genes, transcription factors, aquaporins, late embryogenesis abundant proteins, heat shock proteins, and dehydrins have been identified in stress responses in plant models. However, the complexity of most plant genomes and the overall lack of knowledge of specific molecular mechanisms underlying drought tolerance for most plants remain a major challenge.

Therefore, this Special Issue aims to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with responses to drought. Authors are invited to submit related original research articles, reviews, and communications.

Dr. Isabel Marques
Dr. Honghong Hu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

genes and proteins
flowering responses
metabolic pathways
physiological/biochemical responses
proteome
selection and breeding
transcriptome

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5025 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Transcription Factor MbWRKY46 in Malus baccata (L.) Borkh Mediate Cold and Drought Stress Responses

by Wanda Liu, Tianhe Wang, Yu Wang, Xiaoqi Liang, Jilong Han, Ruining Hou and Deguo Han

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(15), 12468; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241512468 - 05 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 857

Abstract

The living environment of plants is not static; as such, they will inevitably be threatened by various external factors for their growth and development. In order to ensure the healthy growth of plants, in addition to artificial interference, the most important and effective method is to rely on the role of transcription factors in the regulatory network of plant responses to abiotic stress. This study conducted bioinformatics analysis on the MbWRKY46 gene, which was obtained through gene cloning technology from Malus baccata (L.) Borkh, and found that the MbWRKY46 gene had a total length of 1068 bp and encodes 355 amino acids. The theoretical molecular weight (MW) of the MbWRKY46 protein was 39.76 kDa, the theoretical isoelectric point (pI) was 5.55, and the average hydrophilicity coefficient was −0.824. The subcellular localization results showed that it was located in the nucleus. After conducting stress resistance studies on it, it was found that the expression of MbWRKY46 was tissue specific, with the highest expression level in roots and old leaves. Low temperature and drought had a stronger induction effect on the expression of this gene. Under low temperature and drought treatment, the expression levels of several downstream genes related to low temperature and drought stress (AtKIN1, AtRD29A, AtCOR47A, AtDREB2A, AtERD10, AtRD29B) increased more significantly in transgenic Arabidopsis. This indicated that MbWRKY46 gene can be induced to upregulate expression in Arabidopsis under cold and water deficient environments. The results of this study have a certain reference value for the application of M. baccata MbWRKY46 in low-temperature and drought response, and provide a theoretical basis for further research on its function in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Insight of Plants Response to Drought Stress)

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13 pages, 3158 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Soybean Calmodulin-Binding Transcription Activators, GmCAMTA2 and GmCAMTA8, Coordinate the Circadian Regulation of Developmental Processes and Drought Stress Responses

by Dongwon Baek, Hyun Min Cho, Ye Jin Cha, Byung Jun Jin, Su Hyeon Lee, Mi Suk Park, Hyun Jin Chun and Min Chul Kim

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(14), 11477; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241411477 - 14 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1095

Abstract

The calmodulin-binding transcription activators (CAMTAs) mediate transcriptional regulation of development, growth, and responses to various environmental stresses in plants. To understand the biological roles of soybean CAMTA (GmCAMTA) family members in response to abiotic stresses, we characterized expression patterns of 15 GmCAMTA genes in response to various abiotic stresses. The GmCAMTA genes exhibited distinct circadian regulation expression patterns and were differently expressed in response to salt, drought, and cold stresses. Interestingly, the expression levels of GmCAMTA2, GmCAMTA8, and GmCAMTA12 were higher in stem tissue than in other soybean tissues. To determine the roles of GmCAMTAs in the regulation of developmental processes and stress responses, we isolated GmCAMTA2 and GmCAMTA8 cDNAs from soybean and generated Arabidopsis overexpressing transgenic plants. The GmCAMTA2-OX and GmCAMTA8-OX plants showed hypersensitivity to drought stress. The water in the leaves of GmCAMTA2-OX and GmCAMTA8-OX plants was lost faster than that in wild-type (WT) plants under drought-stress conditions. In addition, stress-responsive genes were down-regulated in the GmCAMTA2-OX and GmCAMTA8-OX plants under drought stress conditions compared to WT plants. Our results suggest that GmCAMTA2 and GmCAMTA8 genes are regulated by circadian rhythms and function as negative regulators in development and drought stress responses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Insight of Plants Response to Drought Stress)

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16 pages, 3385 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bna.EPF2 Enhances Drought Tolerance by Regulating Stomatal Development and Stomatal Size in Brassica napus

by Peipei Jiao, Yuanlin Liang, Shaoping Chen, Yang Yuan, Yongqiang Chen and Honghong Hu

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 8007; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098007 - 28 Apr 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1309

Abstract

Drought stress severely affects global plant growth and production. The enhancement of plant water-use efficiency (WUE) and drought tolerance by the manipulation of the stomata is an effective strategy to deal with water shortage. However, increasing the WUE and drought tolerance by manipulation on the stomata has rarely been tested in Brassica napus. Here, we isolated Bna.EPF2, an epidermal patterning factor (EPF) in Brassica napus (ecotype Westar), and identified its role in drought performance. Bna.EPF2 overexpression lines had a reduction average of 19.02% in abaxial stomatal density and smaller stomatal pore size, leading to approximately 25% lower transpiration, which finally resulted in greater instantaneous WUE and enhanced drought tolerance. Interestingly, the reduction in stomatal density did not affect the CO₂ assimilation or yield-related agronomic traits in Bna.EPF2 overexpression plants. Together with the complementation of Bna.EPF2 significantly decreasing the stomatal density of Arabidopsis epf2, and Bna.EPF2 being expressed in mature guard cells, these results suggest that Bna.EPF2 not only functions in stomatal density development, but also in stomatal dimension in Brassicas. Taken together, our results suggest that Bna.EPF2 improves WUE and drought tolerance by the regulation of stomatal density and stomatal size in Brassica without growth and yield penalty, and provide insight into the manipulation of this gene in the breeding of drought tolerant plants with increased production under water deficit conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Insight of Plants Response to Drought Stress)

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20 pages, 1672 KiB

Open AccessArticle

White Lupin Drought Tolerance: Genetic Variation, Trait Genetic Architecture, and Genome-Enabled Prediction

by Luciano Pecetti, Paolo Annicchiarico, Margherita Crosta, Tommaso Notario, Barbara Ferrari and Nelson Nazzicari

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(3), 2351; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032351 - 25 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1883

Abstract

White lupin is a high-protein crop requiring drought tolerance improvement. This study focused on a genetically-broad population of 138 lines to investigate the phenotypic variation and genotype × environment interaction (GEI) for grain yield and other traits across drought-prone and moisture-favourable managed environments, the trait genetic architecture and relevant genomic regions by a GWAS using 9828 mapped SNP markers, and the predictive ability of genomic selection (GS) models. Water treatments across two late cropping months implied max. available soil water content of 60–80% for favourable conditions and from wilting point to 15% for severe drought. Line yield responses across environments featured a genetic correlation of 0.84. Relatively better line yield under drought was associated with an increased harvest index. Two significant QTLs emerged for yield in each condition that differed across conditions. Line yield under stress displayed an inverse linear relationship with the onset of flowering, confirmed genomically by a common major QTL. An adjusted grain yield computed as deviation from phenology-predicted yield acted as an indicator of intrinsic drought tolerance. On the whole, the yield in both conditions and the adjusted yield were polygenic, heritable, and exploitable by GS with a high predictive ability (0.62–0.78). Our results can support selection for climatically different drought-prone regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Insight of Plants Response to Drought Stress)

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14 pages, 3352 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transcriptome Analysis Revealed the Dynamic and Rapid Transcriptional Reprogramming Involved in Cold Stress and Related Core Genes in the Rice Seedling Stage

by Bian Wu, Siyuan Chen, Shiyuan Cheng, Changyan Li, Sanhe Li, Junxiao Chen, Wenjun Zha, Kai Liu, Huashan Xu, Peide Li, Shaojie Shi, Guocai Yang, Zhijun Chen, Kai Liu, Aiqing You and Lei Zhou

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(3), 1914; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24031914 - 18 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1461

Abstract

Cold damage is one of the most important environmental factors influencing crop growth, development, and production. In this study, we generated a pair of near-isogenic lines (NILs), Towada and ZL31, and Towada showed more cold sensitivity than ZL31 in the rice seedling stage. To explore the transcriptional regulation mechanism and the reason for phenotypic divergence of the two lines in response to cold stress, an in-depth comparative transcriptome study under cold stress was carried out. Our analysis uncovered that rapid and high-amplitude transcriptional reprogramming occurred in the early stage of cold treatment. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that genes of the response to stress, environmental adaptation, signal transduction, metabolism, photosynthesis, and the MAPK signaling pathway might form the main part of the engine for transcriptional reprogramming in response to cold stress. Furthermore, we identified four core genes, OsWRKY24, OsCAT2, OsJAZ9, and OsRR6, that were potential candidates affecting the cold sensitivity of Towada and ZL31. Genome re-sequencing analysis between the two lines revealed that only OsWRKY24 contained sequence variations which may change its transcript abundance. Our study not only provides novel insights into the cold-related transcriptional reprogramming process, but also highlights the potential candidates involved in cold stress. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Insight of Plants Response to Drought Stress)

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19 pages, 6360 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel bHLH Transcription Factor PtrbHLH66 from Trifoliate Orange Positively Regulates Plant Drought Tolerance by Mediating Root Growth and ROS Scavenging

by Beibei Liang, Shiguo Wan, Qingling Ma, Li Yang, Wei Hu, Liuqing Kuang, Jingheng Xie, Yingjie Huang, Dechun Liu and Yong Liu

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(23), 15053; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232315053 - 30 Nov 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1603

Abstract

Drought limits citrus yield and fruit quality worldwide. The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors (TFs) are involved in plant response to drought stress. However, few bHLH TFs related to drought response have been functionally characterized in citrus. In this study, a bHLH family gene, named PtrbHLH66, was cloned from trifoliate orange. PtrbHLH66 contained a highly conserved bHLH domain and was clustered closely with bHLH66 homologs from other plant species. PtrbHLH66 was localized to the nucleus and had transcriptional activation activity. The expression of PtrbHLH66 was significantly induced by polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG6000) and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. Ectopic expression of PtrbHLH66 promoted the seed germination and root growth, increased the proline and ABA contents and the activities of antioxidant enzymes, but reduced the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) under drought stress, resulting in enhanced drought tolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis. In contrast, silencing the PtrbHLH66 homolog in lemon plants showed the opposite effects. Furthermore, under drought stress, the transcript levels of 15 genes involved in ABA biosynthesis, proline biosynthesis, ROS scavenging and drought response were obviously upregulated in PtrbHLH66 ectopic-expressing Arabidopsis but downregulated in PtrbHLH66 homolog silencing lemon. Thus, our results suggested that PtrbHLH66 acted as a positive regulator of plant drought resistance by regulating root growth and ROS scavenging. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Insight of Plants Response to Drought Stress)

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16 pages, 1565 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Meta-Analysis Reveals Challenges and Gaps for Genome-to-Phenome Research Underpinning Plant Drought Response

by Anthony E. Melton, Stephanie J. Galla, Carlos Dave C. Dumaguit, John M. A. Wojahn, Stephen Novak, Marcelo Serpe, Peggy Martinez and Sven Buerki

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(20), 12297; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232012297 - 14 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1576

Abstract

Severe drought conditions and extreme weather events are increasing worldwide with climate change, threatening the persistence of native plant communities and ecosystems. Many studies have investigated the genomic basis of plant responses to drought. However, the extent of this research throughout the plant kingdom is unclear, particularly among species critical for the sustainability of natural ecosystems. This study aimed to broaden our understanding of genome-to-phenome (G2P) connections in drought-stressed plants and identify focal taxa for future research. Bioinformatics pipelines were developed to mine and link information from databases and abstracts from 7730 publications. This approach identified 1634 genes involved in drought responses among 497 plant taxa. Most (83.30%) of these species have been classified for human use, and most G2P interactions have been described within model organisms or crop species. Our analysis identifies several gaps in G2P research literature and database connectivity, with 21% of abstracts being linked to gene and taxonomy data in NCBI. Abstract text mining was more successful at identifying potential G2P pathways, with 34% of abstracts containing gene, taxa, and phenotype information. Expanding G2P studies to include non-model plants, especially those that are adapted to drought stress, will help advance our understanding of drought responsive G2P pathways. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Insight of Plants Response to Drought Stress)

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