SbNAC9 Improves Drought Tolerance by Enhancing Scavenging Ability of Reactive Oxygen Species and Activating Stress-Responsive Genes of Sorghum.

ABSTRACT: Drought stress severely threatens the yield of cereal crops. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanism of drought stress response of plants is crucial for developing drought-tolerant cultivars. NAC transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in abiotic stress of plants, but the functions of NAC TFs in sorghum are largely unknown. Here, we characterized a sorghum NAC gene, SbNAC9, and found that SbNAC9 can be highly induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG)-simulated dehydration treatments. We therefore investigated the function of SbNAC9 in drought stress response. Sorghum seedlings overexpressing SbNAC9 showed enhanced drought-stress tolerance with higher chlorophyll content and photochemical efficiency of PSII, stronger root systems, and higher reactive oxygen

SUBMITTER: Jin X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9917103 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature