Overexpression of forage millet (Setaria italica) SiER genes enhances drought resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana

Hanjing Dai; Xiaoyi Huang; Yingrun Wang; Shoujing Zhu; Jieqin Li; Zhaoshi Xu; Jiacheng Zheng

doi:10.1071/FP23238

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Overexpression of forage millet (Setaria italica) SiER genes enhances drought resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana

Hanjing Dai ^A ^# , Xiaoyi Huang ^A ^# , Yingrun Wang ^A , Shoujing Zhu ^A , Jieqin Li ^A ^B , Zhaoshi Xu ^C ^* and Jiacheng Zheng

^A ^B ^C ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Anhui Science and Technology University, College of Agronomy, Fengyang, Anhui 233100, P.R. China.

^B Anhui Province International Joint Research Center of Forage Bio-breeding, Chuzhou, Anhui 233100, P.R. China.

^C Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Triticeae Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 10081, P.R. China.

^* Correspondence to: zhengjiachengx2016@126.com, xuzhaoshi@caas.cn

Handling Editor: Rosa Rivero

Functional Plant Biology 51, FP23238 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP23238

Submitted: 23 October 2023 Accepted: 31 July 2024 Published: 20 August 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

ERECTA (ER) is a type of receptor-like kinase that contributes a crucial mission in various aspects of plant development, physiological metabolism, and abiotic stresses responses. This study aimed to explore the functional characteristics of the SiER family genes in millet (Setaria italica L.), focusing on the growth phenotype and drought resistance of Arabidopsis overexpressed SiER4_X1 and SiER1_X4 genes (SiERs). The results revealed that overexpression of SiER4_X1 and SiER1_X4 genes in Arabidopsis significantly enhanced the leaf number, expanded leaf length and width, further promoted the silique number, length and diameter, and plant height and main stem thickness, ultimately leading to a substantial increase in individual plant biomass. Compared to the wild-type (WT), through simulated drought stress, the expression level of SiER genes was notably upregulated, transgenic Arabidopsis seeds exhibited stronger germination rates and root development; after experiencing drought conditions, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and peroxidase) increased, while the levels of malondialdehyde and relative electrical conductivity decreased. These results indicate that overexpression of SiERs significantly enhanced both biomass production and drought resistance in Arabidopsis. The SiER4_X1 and SiER1_X4 genes emerge as promising candidate genes for improving biomass production and drought resistance in forage plants.

Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana L., biomass production, drought resistance, expression patterns, forage millet, genes structure, PEG6000, SiER genes.

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