Cloning and Characterization of a Salt Tolerance-Associated Gene Encoding Trehalose-6-Phosphate Synthase in Sweetpotato

Trehalose plays an important role in metabolic regulation and abiotic stress tolerance in a variety of organisms. In plants, its biosynthesis is catalyzed by two key enzymes： trehalose-6-phosphate synthase（TPS） and trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase（TPP）. In the present study, a TPS gene, named IbTPS, was first isolated from sweetpotato（Ipomoea batatas（L.） Lam.） cv. Lushu 3 by rapid amplification of cDNA ends（RACE）. The open reading frame（ORF） contained 2 580 nucleotides encoding 859 amino acids with a molecular weight of 97.433 kDa and an isoelectric point（pI） of 5.7. The deduced amino acid sequence showed high identities with TPS of other plants. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that the expression level of IbTPS gene was significantly higher in stems of Lushu 3 than in its leaves and roots. Subcellular localization analysis in onion epidermal cells indicated that IbTPS gene was located in the nucleus. Transgenic tobacco（cv. Wisconsin 38） plants over-expressing IbTPS gene exhibited significantly higher salt tolerance compared with the control plant. Trehalose and proline content was found to be significantly more accumulated in transgenic tobacco plants than in the wild-type and several stress tolerance related genes were up-regulated. These results suggest that IbTPS gene may enhance salt tolerance of plants by increasing the amount of treahalose and proline and regulating the expression of stress tolerance related genes.

Molecular Cloning and Functional Characterization of a Salt Tolerance-Associated Gene IbNFU1 from Sweetpotato

Iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis involving the nitrogen fixation（Nif） proteins has been proposed as a general mechanism acting in various organisms.NifU-like protein may play an important role in protecting plants against abiotic and biotic stresses.Based on the EST sequence selected from salt-stressed suppression subtractive hybridization（SSH） cDNA library constructed with a salt-tolerant mutant LM79,a NFU gene,termed IbNFU1,was cloned from sweetpotato（Ipomoea batatas（L.） Lam.） via rapid amplification of cDNA ends（RACE）.The cDNA sequence of 1 117 bp contained an 846 bp open reading frame encoding a 281 amino acids polypeptide with a molecular weight of 30.5 kDa and an isoelectric point（pI） of 5.12.IbNFU1 gene contained a conserved Cys-X-X-Cys motif in C-terminal of the iron-sulfur cluster domain.The deduced amino acid sequence had 66.08 to 71.99% sequence identity to NFU genes reported in Arabidopsis thaliana,Eucalyptus grandis and Vitis vinifera.Real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that the expression level of IbNFU1 gene was significantly higher in the roots of the mutant LM79 compared to the wild-type Lizixiang.Transgenic tobacco（cv.Wisconsin 38） plants expressing IbNFU1 gene exhibited significantly higher salt tolerance compared to the untransformed control plants.It is proposed that IbNFU1 gene has an important function for salt tolerance of plants.