SmZIP8 EXPRESSION IMPROVES ANTIOXIDANT ENZYMATIC ACTIVITIES AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN TRANSGENIC TOBACCO UNDER CD STRESS

Cadmium (Cd) can inhibit plant growth and interfere its metabolism. SmZIP8 isolated from Salix matsudana Koidz functions in Cd accumulation and translocation in preliminary studies. The physiological response of transgenic SmZIP8 tobacco to Cd stress were evaluated in this study. Compared with the WT plants, the activities of antioxidant enzymes were increased, while the MDA content was reduced under the same Cd treatment conditions in SmZIP8 over-expressed plants. The photosynthetic parameters were less down-regulated by Cd stress (P < 0.05) in the transgenic SmZIP8 tobaccos than WT tobaccos. PCA results of the 11 selected physiological parameters showed that there were good repeatability among the three repetitions of all the treatment groups, and obvious differences between SmZIP8 transgenic and WT tobaccos, Therefore, SmZIP8 expression enhanced Cd tolerance by alleviating the physiological toxicity caused by Cd in the transgenic tobacco, which implied that ectopic expression of SmZIP8 is an efficient way to clean up Cd-contaminated soil for future phytoremediation applications.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the physiological response of transgenic SmZIP8 tobacco to Cd stress and found that SmZIP8 expression enhanced Cd tolerance by alleviating the physiological toxicity caused by Cd.