Overexpression of Late Embryogenesis Abundant 14 enhances Arabidopsis salt stress tolerance

• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2014.10.136
• Publication Date: 2014-11-01T16:16:06Z
• Authors: Fengjuan Jia; Shengdong Qi; Hui Li; Pu Liu; Pengcheng Li; Changai Wu; Chengchao Zheng; Jinguang Huang
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 03 medical and health sciences; Stress, Physiological; Gene Expression Profiling; Arabidopsis; RNA, Messenger; Salt Tolerance; Sodium Chloride; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Plant Proteins; 3. Good health

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are implicated in various abiotic stresses in higher plants. In this study, we identified a LEA protein from Arabidopsis thaliana, AtLEA14, which was ubiquitously expressed in different tissues and remarkably induced with increased duration of salt treatment. Subcellular distribution analysis demonstrated that AtLEA14 was mainly localized in the cytoplasm. Transgenic Arabidopsis and yeast overexpressing AtLEA14 all exhibited enhanced tolerance to high salinity. The transcripts of salt stress-responsive marker genes (COR15a, KIN1, RD29B and ERD10) were overactivated in AtLEA14 overexpressing lines compared with those in wild type plants under normal or salt stress conditions. In vivo and in vitro analysis showed that AtLEA14 could effectively stabilize AtPP2-B11, an important E3 ligase. These results suggested that AtLEA14 had important protective functions under salt stress conditions in Arabidopsis.