Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Soil salinization severely limits crop productivity worldwide. Halophytes provide important biological resources for identifying genes that confer salinity tolerance. Salt glands, specialized epidermal structures in recretohalophytes like Limonium bicolor, excrete excess Na+, yet their developmental and functional regulation remains poorly understood. METHODS: We focused on LbSTICHEL (LbSTI), a homologue of the Arabidopsis trichome regulator STI, and investigated its function and upstream regulation in L. bicolor. KEY RESULTS: LbSTI was found to be specifically expressed in the salt glands of L. bicolor, as determined by RNA in situ hybridization and GUS histochemical staining driven by the LbSTI promoter. The function of LbSTI was further investigated in L. bicolor. In L. bicolor, plants overexpressing LbSTI produced more salt glands, exhibited increased salt secretion and greater tolerance to salinity stress compared with non-transformed controls. Conversely, LbSTI-knockdown plants generated by virus-induced gene silencing showed opposite phenotypes. Meanwhile, LbSTI increased trichome development and salinity tolerance in wild-type plants and an sti mutant of Arabidopsis, which indicated conservation across species. Furthermore, the upstream regulatory transcription factor LbMUSTANG3 (LbMUG3) was identified to bind to the LbSTI promoter and inhibit the transcription of LbSTI using a yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase reporter assay. Further functional validation revealed that LbMUG3 delayed salt gland development in L. bicolor. Additionally, the expression of LbSTI was significantly upregulated in LbMUG3-silenced lines. CONCLUSIONS: The current LbMUG3-LbSTI module may be a useful tool to cultivate plants with salinity tolerance.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
LbSTI was specifically expressed in Limonium bicolor salt glands.
- Taxon
- L. bicolorLimonium bicolore0
- Organ / stage
- salt glandse0
- Gene
- LbSTIe0
- Outcome
- specifically expressede0
Verbatim
e0“LbSTI was found to be specifically expressed in the salt glands of L. bicolor”
Claim · model-written summary
LbSTI overexpression increased salt gland number in Limonium bicolor.
Verbatim
e0“In L. bicolor, plants overexpressing LbSTI produced more salt glands, exhibited increased salt secretion and greater tolerance to salinity stress compared with non-transformed controls”
Claim · model-written summary
LbSTI overexpression increased salt secretion in Limonium bicolor.
Verbatim
e0“In L. bicolor, plants overexpressing LbSTI produced more salt glands, exhibited increased salt secretion and greater tolerance to salinity stress compared with non-transformed controls”
Claim · model-written summary
LbSTI overexpression increased salinity tolerance in Limonium bicolor.
Verbatim
e0“In L. bicolor, plants overexpressing LbSTI produced more salt glands, exhibited increased salt secretion and greater tolerance to salinity stress compared with non-transformed controls”
Claim · model-written summary
LbSTI silencing produced opposite salt gland, secretion, and tolerance phenotypes.
- Taxon
- Limonium bicolorLimonium bicolort0
- Treatment
- virus-induced gene silencinge0
- Gene
- LbSTIe0
- Outcome
- opposite phenotypese0
- Direction
- oppositee0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
t0“Limonium bicolor”
e0“LbSTI-knockdown plants generated by virus-induced gene silencing showed opposite phenotypes”
Claim · model-written summary
LbSTI increased trichome development in Arabidopsis wild type and sti mutant plants.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis
Arabidopsise0 - Material
- sti mutante0
- Treatment
- LbSTIe0
- Gene
- LbSTIe0
- Outcome
- trichome developmente0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“LbSTI increased trichome development and salinity tolerance in wild-type plants and an sti mutant of Arabidopsis”
Claim · model-written summary
LbSTI increased salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis wild type and sti mutant plants.
- Taxon
- ArabidopsisArabidopsise0
- Material
- sti mutante0
- Treatment
- LbSTIe0
- Gene
- LbSTIe0
- Outcome
- salinity tolerancee0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“LbSTI increased trichome development and salinity tolerance in wild-type plants and an sti mutant of Arabidopsis”
Claim · model-written summary
LbMUG3 bound the LbSTI promoter.
- Taxon
- Limonium bicolorLimonium bicolort0
- Gene
- LbMUSTANG3 (LbMUG3)e0
- Outcome
- bind to the LbSTI promotere0
Verbatim
t0“Limonium bicolor”
e0“LbMUSTANG3 (LbMUG3) was identified to bind to the LbSTI promoter”
Claim · model-written summary
LbMUG3 inhibited LbSTI transcription.
- Taxon
- Limonium bicolorLimonium bicolort0
- Gene
- LbMUSTANG3 (LbMUG3)e0
- Outcome
- transcription of LbSTIe0
- Direction
- inhibite0
Verbatim
t0“Limonium bicolor”
e0“LbMUSTANG3 (LbMUG3) was identified to bind to the LbSTI promoter and inhibit the transcription of LbSTI”
Claim · model-written summary
LbMUG3 delayed salt gland development.
- Taxon
- L. bicolorLimonium bicolore0
- Gene
- LbMUG3e0
- Outcome
- salt gland developmente0
- Direction
- delayede0
Verbatim
e0“LbMUG3 delayed salt gland development in L. bicolor”
Claim · model-written summary
Silencing LbMUG3 upregulated LbSTI expression.
- Taxon
- Limonium bicolorLimonium bicolort0
- Material
- LbMUG3-silenced linese0
- Treatment
- LbMUG3-silencede0
- Gene
- LbSTIe0
- Outcome
- expression of LbSTIe0
- Direction
- upregulatede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
t0“Limonium bicolor”
e0“the expression of LbSTI was significantly upregulated in LbMUG3-silenced lines”