Overexpression of OsTF1L, a rice HD‐Zip transcription factor, promotes lignin biosynthesis and stomatal closure that improves drought tolerance

Abstract

Drought stress seriously impacts on plant development and productivity. Improvement of drought tolerance without yield penalty is a great challenge in crop biotechnology. Here, we report that the rice (Oryza sativa) homeodomain-leucine zipper transcription factor gene, OsTF1L (Oryza sativa transcription factor 1-like), is a key regulator of drought tolerance mechanisms. Overexpression of the OsTF1L in rice significantly increased drought tolerance at the vegetative stages of growth and promoted both effective photosynthesis and a reduction in the water loss rate under drought conditions. Importantly, the OsTF1L overexpressing plants showed a higher drought tolerance at the reproductive stage of growth with a higher grain yield than nontransgenic controls under field-drought conditions. Genomewide analysis of OsTF1L overexpression plants revealed up-regulation of drought-inducible, stomatal movement and lignin biosynthetic genes. Overexpression of OsTF1L promoted accumulation of lignin in shoots, whereas the RNAi lines showed opposite patterns of lignin accumulation. OsTF1L is mainly expressed in outer cell layers including the epidermis, and the vasculature of the shoots, which coincides with areas of lignification. In addition, OsTF1L overexpression enhances stomatal closure under drought conditions resulted in drought tolerance. More importantly, OsTF1L directly bound to the promoters of lignin biosynthesis and drought-related genes involving poxN/PRX38, Nodulin protein, DHHC4, CASPL5B1 and AAA-type ATPase. Collectively, our results provide a new insight into the role of OsTF1L in enhancing drought tolerance through lignin biosynthesis and stomatal closure in rice.

Biofilms Positively Contribute to Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 54-induced Drought Tolerance in Tomato Plants

“…Stomatal closure is the primary response to drought stress in most plants that curtail water loss from transpiration. Therefore, the stomatal aperture is a major factor that contributes to drought tolerance [68,69]. The present study demonstrated that plants pre-inoculated with B. amyloliquefaciens 54 had smaller stomatal aperture than did control plants ( Figure 5A,B).…”

Grapevine VlbZIP30 improves drought resistance by directly activating VvNAC17 and promoting lignin biosynthesis through the regulation of three peroxidase genes

“…Many studies have shown that transcription factors (TFs) are important regulators of drought stress signaling, and increasing their activity can provide plants with the ability to survive under drought conditions 1 . For example, the basic region/leucine zipper (bZIP) family has been characterized in a range of plant species, such as Arabidopsis thaliana 4,5 , rice (Oryza sativa) 6,7 , tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) 8 , maize (Zea mays) 9 , and grapevine (Vitis vinifera) 10,11 , and some of its members have been shown to enhance drought tolerance following overexpression in transgenic plants [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] .…”

Root Development and Stress Tolerance in rice: The Key to Improving Stress Tolerance without Yield Penalties

“…Lee et al (2016) revealed that OsERF71 promoted lignin biosynthesis in rice by directly activating the expression of lignin biosynthesis genes such as CINNAMOYL-COENZYME A REDUCTASE 1 (OsCCR1), and root-specific lignification by OsERF71 promoted drought tolerance and increased grain yield up to 23-32% under drought conditions [100]. The role of lignin in rice stress tolerance is also supported by a recent study of OsTF1L, a rice HD-Zip transcription factor that regulates lignin biosynthesis [103].…”