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MeRAV5 promotes drought stress resistance in cassava by modulating hydrogen peroxide and lignin accumulation
Author(s) -
Yan Yu,
Wang Peng,
Lu Yi,
Bai Yujing,
Wei Yunxie,
Liu Guoyin,
Shi Haitao
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.15350
Subject(s) - cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase , lignin , hydrogen peroxide , complementation , bimolecular fluorescence complementation , photosynthesis , chemistry , peroxidase , drought stress , gene silencing , biology , botany , horticulture , biochemistry , yeast , phenotype , gene , enzyme , biosynthesis
SUMMARY Cassava, an important food and energy crop, is relatively more resistant to drought stress than other crops. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this resistance remains elusive. Herein, we report that silencing a drought stress‐responsive transcription factor MeRAV5 significantly reduced drought stress resistance, with higher levels of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and less lignin during drought stress. Yeast two‐hybrid, pull down and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) showed that MeRAV5 physically interacted with peroxidase (MePOD) and lignin‐related cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase 15 (MeCAD15) in vitro and in vivo . MeRAV5 promoted the activities of both MePOD and MeCAD15 to affect H 2 O 2 and endogenous lignin accumulation respectively, which are important in drought stress resistance in cassava. When either MeCAD15 or MeRAV5 was silenced, or both were co‐silenced, cassava showed lower lignin content and drought‐sensitive phenotype, whereas exogenous lignin alkali treatment increased drought stress resistance and alleviated the drought‐sensitive phenotype of these silenced cassava plants. This study documents that the modulation of H 2 O 2 and lignin by MeRAV5 is essential for drought stress resistance in cassava.