Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2021, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (4): 414-421.DOI: 10.11983/CBB20212

• EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Heterologous Overexpression of Desiccation-tolerance Moss ScABI3 Gene Changes Stomatal Phenotype and Improves Drought Resistance in Transgenic Arabidopsis

Yigong Zhang1, Yi Zhang1, Ayibaiheremu Mutailifu1, Daoyuan Zhang2,*()   

  1. 1Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
    2Conservation and Utilization of Plant Gene Resources, Key Laboratory of Xinjiang, Urumqi 830011, China
  • Received:2020-12-26 Accepted:2021-05-08 Online:2021-07-01 Published:2021-06-30
  • Contact: Daoyuan Zhang

Abstract: ABI3 is a key transcriptional factor of the ABA signaling pathway, which is involved in seed dormancy, plastid development, and desiccation tolerance of bryophytes, and plays an important role in the stress tolerance of plant. This study obtained three independent pCAMBIA1301-ScABI3 transgenic Arabidopsis homozygous lines. The results showed that transgenic plants increased leaf stomata diameter, reduced the number of stomata in unit area, and improved plant water use efficiency; transgenic plants survival rate was significantly higher than wild type (WT) after 14 days of drought treatment; the water loss rate of transgenic leaves was significantly lower than that of WT. Further research has found that ScABI3 transgenic plants had higher drought resistance characteristics by improving reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging ability. These results may be contributed to the development and utilization of genetic resources of desert plants, also provide the theoretical and practical base for molecular breeding.

Key words: abscisic acid, ABI3, drought resistance, stomata