Expression of SmERF1 in tobacco improves plant salinity tolerance and regulates seed size
[Objective]The transcription factor ERF has various biological functions,and plays important roles in regulating plant growth,development and responding to stress.Previous studies have shown that SmERF1 from Salvia miltiorrhiza was involved in plant response to stress.This study aimed to further elucidate the potential function of SmERF1 and lay a foundation for the study of resistance and seed devel-opment of medicinal plants.[Methods]SmERF1 was heterologously expressed in the model plant tobacco mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens in this study.The resistance of transgenic plants was evaluated through determining the plant resistance-related enzyme activities.The levels of hormones such as GA and ABA were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays,and the expression of key enzyme genes involved in hormone biosynthesis were detected with qPCR methods.[Results](1)SmERF1-expressing tobacco plants showed slower growth,less biomass,and decrease in chlorophyll at the seedling stage,with no significant difference in other growth stages.In addition,seeds of tobacco plants expressing SmERF1 genes were smaller and lighter than those of wild plants.(2)Under NaCl treatment,the trans-genic tobacco lines showed better tolerance to salinity,and the proline content,SOD and POD activities of transgenic lines were higher than those of wild type plants,while MDA content was lower than that of wild-type plants.(3)We determined the phytohormones related to plant resistance,and the results showed that transgenic tobacco plants had higher ABA levels but lower GA levels compared with wild type plants.The expression of SmERF1 regulated the expression of the key enzyme genes related to plant hor-mone biosynthesis,such as NtSDR,NtGA20ox,NtACO,and NtACS.[Conclusion]SmERF1 enhances tobacco tolerance to salt stress and may regulate seed size through the ABA-dependent pathway.
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