Transcriptomic analysis provides insights into the abscisic acid mediates brassinosteroid-induced cold resistance of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.)

• Published in: Plant growth regulation 2023-12, Vol.101 (3), p.845-860
• Main Authors: Wang, Yuting, Ding, Siyue, Chen, Zeya, Wang, Xuefei, Jiang, Qianqian, Zhao, Jiaqi, Duan, Bingbing, Xi, Zhumei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abscisic acid; Acid resistance; Agriculture; antioxidant enzymes; Antioxidants; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biosynthesis; Brassinosteroids; Calcium-binding protein; calcium-binding proteins; Chlorophyll; Cold; Cold resistance; cold stress; Cold tolerance; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; foliar application; Foliar applications; Gene expression; Genes; Life Sciences; Low temperature resistance; Molecular modelling; Original Paper; Plant Anatomy/Development; plant growth; Plant Physiology; Plant resistance; Plant Sciences; Reactive oxygen species; Stress; stress tolerance; Transcription factors; Transcriptomics; Vitis vinifera
• ISSN: 0167-6903; 1573-5087
• DOI: 10.1007/s10725-023-01060-7

Brassinosteroids (BRs) and abscisic acid (ABA) both play positive roles in plant resistance to cold stress. Despite the recent report on the involvement of ABA in BR-induced enhanced tolerance to cold stress, the underlying molecular mechanisms of stress tolerance remain unclear. Moreover, whether there are ABA-independent pathways for BR-induced enhancement of cold stress tolerance in grapevines needs to be clarified. Herein, the potential involvement of ABA in BR-induced cold resistance in grapevines was investigated by contrasting the different responses among ABA, BR, and the combination of BR and NDGA (an inhibitor of endogenous ABA biosynthesis) treatments under cold stress. Results showed BR and ABA foliar application alone increased the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, regulated the antioxidant system, and alleviated oxidative damage induced by cold stress. Interestingly, NDGA blocked the BR-induced cold resistance by increasing reactive oxygen species content and reducing antioxidant enzyme activity. Transcriptomic analysis suggested that exposure to cold stress resulted in very different patterns of gene expression and enriched pathway responses. Among them, ERF transcription factors were observed to be up-regulated in both BR and ABA treatment, calcium-binding protein genes were up-regulated only under BR treatment alone, and xyloglucosyl transferase genes were up-regulated only under ABA treatment. Overall, we concluded that ABA was involved in BR-induced cold resistance in grapevines, but there was also a different candidate pathway between ABA and BR treatments under cold stress.