Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

A maize phytochrome‐interacting factors protein ZmPIF1 enhances drought tolerance by inducing stomatal closure and improves grain yield in Oryza sativa

2018; Wiley; Volume: 16; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/pbi.12878

1467-7652

Yong Gao, Meiqin Wu, Mengjiao Zhang, Wei Jiang, Xiaoyun Ren, Enxing Liang, Dongping Zhang, Changquan Zhang, Ning Xiao, Yan Li, Yi Dai, Jianmin Chen,

Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms

Summary Phytochrome‐interacting factors ( PIF s) play major roles in regulating plant growth and development, but their roles in drought stress remain elusive. Here, we cloned and characterized a maize ( Zea mays ) PIF transcription factor, Zm PIF 1 . The expression level of Zm PIF 1 was significantly induced by independent drought and abscisic acid ( ABA ) treatments. The Zm PIF 1 transgenic rice and Arabidopsis displayed water saving and drought resistance, which were associated with reduced a stomatal aperture and transpiration rate. Moreover, the Zm PIF 1 transgenic rice were hypersensitive to exogenous ABA , while the endogenous ABA level was not significantly changed, suggesting that Zm PIF 1 was a positive regulator of the ABA signalling pathway. Digital gene expression ( DGE ) results further indicated that Zm PIF 1 participated in ABA signalling pathway and regulated the stomatal aperture in rice. In addition, grain yield and agronomic traits analysis over 4 years showed that Zm PIF 1 was able to increase the grain yield through an increase in tiller and panicle numbers in transgenic rice. Overall, Zm PIF 1 plays an important role in the ABA ‐mediated regulation of stomatal closure to control water loss. Zm PIF 1 can enhance water saving and drought resistance and improve the crop yield in rice, illustrating the capacity of Zm PIF 1 for crop improvement.