Apple receptor-like kinase FERONIA regulates salt tolerance and ABA sensitivity in Malus domestica

• Published in: Journal of plant physiology 2022-03, Vol.270, p.153616-153616, Article 153616
• Main Authors: Xie, Yin-Huan, Zhang, Fu-Jun, Sun, Ping, Li, Zhao-Yang, Zheng, Peng-Fei, Gu, Kai-Di, Hao, Yu-Jin, Zhang, Zhenlu, You, Chun-Xiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ABA; Abiotic stress; Abscisic acid; Apple; Apples; Arabidopsis; Callus; Catalase; Crops; Crosstalk; Domains; Ectopic expression; Enzymatic activity; Fruits; Homology; Kinases; Malus domestica; MdFER; Membranes; Plant species; Reactive oxygen species; Receptor-like kinase protein FERONIA; Receptors; ROS; Salinity; Salinity tolerance; Salt tolerance; Sensitivity; Sodium chloride; Superoxide dismutase
• ISSN: 0176-1617; 1618-1328
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2022.153616

FERONIA (FER) is a membrane-localized receptor-like kinase that plays pivotal roles in male and female gametophyte recognition, hormone signaling crosstalk, and biotic and abiotic responses. Most reports focus on the functions of FER in model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. However, the functions of FER homologs have not been deeply investigated in apple (Malus domestica), an important economic fruit crop distributed worldwide, especially in China. In this study, we identified an apple homolog of Arabidopsis FER, named MdFER (MDP0000390677). The two proteins encoded by AtFER and MdFER share similar domains: an extracellular malectin-like domain, a transmembrane domain, and an intracellular kinase domain. MdFER was further proven to localize to the plasma membrane in the epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana. MdFER was widely expressed in different apple tissues, but the highest expression was found in roots. In addition, expression of MdFER was significantly induced by treatment with abscisic acid (ABA) and salt (NaCl). Overexpressing MdFER dramatically improved the resistance to salt stress and reduced the sensitivity to ABA in apple callus, while suppressing MdFER expression showed contrary effects. Furthermore, ectopic expression of MdFER in Arabidopsis significantly increased the salt tolerance and reduced the sensitivity to ABA. In addition, under salt stress and ABA treatment, Arabidopsis with highly expressed MdFER accumulated less reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the enzymatic activity of two ROS scavengers, superoxide dismutase and catalase, was higher compared with that of wild type (WT). Our work proves that MdFER positively regulates salt tolerance and negatively regulates ABA sensitivity in apple, which enriched the functions of FER in different plant species. •Overexpressing MdFER increases resistance to salt stress and ABA in apple callus.•Ectopic expressing MdFER decreases ROS accumulation under ABA and salt treatment in Arabidopsis.•Ectopic expressing MdFER enhances activity of SOD scavengers in Arabidopsis.