Heterologous Expression of Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase-3 From Rice Confers Tolerance to Salinity Stress in E. coli and Arabidopsis

Abstract

Among abiotic stresses, salt stress adversely affects growth and development in rice. Contrasting salt tolerant (CSR27), and salt sensitive (MI48) rice varieties provided information on an array of genes that may contribute for salt tolerance of rice. Earlier studies on transcriptome and proteome profiling led to the identification of salt stress-induced serine hydroxymethyltransferase-3 (SHMT3) gene. In the present study, the SHMT3 gene was isolated from salt-tolerant (CSR27) rice. OsSHMT3 exhibited salinity-stress induced accentuated and differential expression levels in different tissues of rice. OsSHMT3 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and assayed for enzymatic activity and modeling protein structure. Further, Arabidopsis transgenic plants overexpressing OsSHMT3 exhibited tolerance toward salt stress. Comparative analyses of OsSHMT3 vis a vis wild type by ionomic, transcriptomic, and metabolic profiling, protein expression and analysis of various traits revealed a pivotal role of OsSHMT3 in conferring tolerance toward salt stress. The gene can further be used in developing gene-based markers for salt stress to be employed in marker assisted breeding programs.HIGHLIGHTS- The study provides information on mechanistic details of serine hydroxymethyl transferase gene for its salt tolerance in rice.

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) gene family in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

“…In A. thaliana , a ubiquitin-specific protease UBP16 interacts with AtSHMT1 to stabilize it, and they cooperate to increase Na + /H + antiport activity under salt stress ( Zhou et al, 2012 ). In rice, the overexpression level of OsSHMT3 was found to be up-regulated in a salt-tolerant line ‘CSR27′( Mishra et al, 2016 ; Mishra et al, 2019 ). Overexpression of ApSHMT (a gene isolated from cyanobacterium) in Escherichia coli.…”

Genome-Wide Analysis of Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase Genes in Triticeae Species Reveals That TaSHMT3A-1 Regulates Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in Wheat

“…Serine hydroxymethyltransferase is involved in the reversible interconversion of Ser and Gly, participates in amination and decarboxylation reactions, and plays an important role in the cell-carbon metabolic pathway ( Bauwe and Kolukisaoglu, 2003 ; Voll et al, 2006 ). Previous studies mainly focused on the function of SHMT genes under abiotic stresses such as light intensity, salt, and drought ( Voll et al, 2006 ; Cui et al, 2019 ; Mishra et al, 2019 ); however, studies on the role of the SHMT gene family in biotic stresses and its evolutionary relationship in important crops at the genomic level have been limited. Wheat is a heterologous hexaploid composed of three subgenomes A, B, and D. Studies reveal that hybridization of T. urartu (AA) and an Ae.…”

“…In Arabidopsis , AtSHM1 is involved in the photorespiratory pathway ( McClung et al, 2000 ; Moreno et al, 2005 ; Voll et al, 2006 ). The mutant shm1-1 showed a lethal photorespiratory phenotype caused by photorespiration deficiency when grown at ambient CO 2 ( Voll et al, 2006 ), and showed a more susceptible phenotype than the wild type when infected with biotrophic and necrotrophic pathogens, as well as enhanced susceptibility to salt, drought, and high light stress ( Moreno et al, 2005 ; Liu et al, 2019 ; Mishra et al, 2019 ). AtSHM2 is a functional mitochondrial SHM , and the expression of SHM2 is restricted to the vasculature of leaves ( Engel et al, 2011 ).…”

“…Studies indicate a conserved function of SHMT1 in photorespiration in rice and Arabidopsis . Rice SHMT3 confers tolerance to salinity stress in heterologous Arabidopsis ( Mishra et al, 2019 ). Overexpression of the halotolerant cyanobacteria Aphanothece halophytica gene ApSHMT in Escherichia coli induced an enhanced tolerance to salinity-stress ( Waditee-Sirisattha et al, 2012 ).…”

Proteomics, physiological, and biochemical analysis of cross tolerance mechanisms in response to heat and water stresses in soybean

“…Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT; EC 2.1.2.1) is involved in the photorespiratory pathway of oxygenic photosynthetic organisms [75]. SHMT, a pyridoxal phosphatedependent enzyme, plays a pivotal role in cellular one-carbon pathways by catalyzing the interconversion of L-serine to glycine and tetrahydrofolate to 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate for synthesis of nucleic acids, and proteins [76].…”