Overexpression of MdATG8i Enhances Drought Tolerance by Alleviating Oxidative Damage and Promoting Water Uptake in Transgenic Apple.

ABSTRACT: Water deficit adversely affects apple (Malus domestica) productivity on the Loess Plateau. Autophagy plays a key role in plant responses to unfavorable environmental conditions. Previously, we demonstrated that a core apple autophagy-related protein, MdATG8i, was responsive to various stresses at the transcript level. Here, we investigated the function of this gene in the response of apple to severe drought and found that its overexpression (OE) significantly enhanced drought tolerance. Under drought conditions, MdATG8iOE apple plants exhibited less drought-related damage and maintained higher photosynthetic capacities compared with the wild type (WT). The accumulation of ROS (reactive oxygen species) was lower in OE plants under drought stress and was accompanied by higher activities of a

SUBMITTER: Jia X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8197189 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature