Mt14-3-3, interacting with MtNAC2, is involved in floral transition and multiple abiotic stress pathways

• Published in: Environmental and experimental botany 2024-03, Vol.219, p.105665, Article 105665
• Main Authors: Wang, Mengdi, Li, Yinruizhi, Wang, Yue, Dong, Di, Li, Shuwen, Liu, Zhuocheng, Han, Liebao, Chao, Yuehui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abiotic stress response; Arabidopsis; drought; endoplasmic reticulum; Floral transition; fluorescence; genes; isoleucine; leucine; Medicago truncatula; Mt14-3-3; MtNAC2; plant hormones; plant physiology; salt stress; signal transduction; stress response; Transcriptome; two hybrid system techniques; valine
• ISSN: 0098-8472; 1873-7307
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2024.105665

Evidence suggests that the 14-3-3 protein plays a role in a wide variety of physiological activities in plants. However, its specific role in Medicago truncatula remains unclear. For this study, a Mt14‐3‐3 gene was isolated from M. truncatula for further research. Subcellular localization data indicates that this gene is localized in both the cytoplasm and nucleus. Furthermore, the gene's response to multiple hormonal and abiotic stress treatments suggests its potential involvement in hormonal pathways and abiotic stress response mechanisms. When overexpressed, Mt14‐3‐3 caused Arabidopsis to flower approximately 6 days earlier than the wild type on average. Additionally, the overexpression resulted in enhanced growth resilience under both drought and salt stress conditions when compared to the wild type. The expression levels of relevant genes showed significant variances, further indicating the gene's potential role. Moreover, a MtNAC2 protein known to interact with the Mt14-3-3 protein was identified and validated using yeast two-hybrid experiments. Further evidence was provided by bimolecular fluorescence complementation (bifc) experiment. Analysis of transcriptome data revealed that Mt14‐3‐3 may play a key role in multiple biological pathways, including valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation, protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, and plant hormone signal transduction. In summary, our study provides new insights into the role of 14‐3‐3 genes in plant physiology. •This is the first report that Mt14-3-3 can interact with the MtNAC2.•Mt14-3-3 is involved in regulating flowering in transgenic plants.•Expression of Mt14-3-3 enhances abiotic stress tolerance in transgenic plants.