Overexpression of the ThTPS gene enhanced salt and osmotic stress tolerance in Tamarix hispida

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide with high stability and strong water absorption properties that can improve the resistance of organisms to various abiotic stresses. Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) plays important roles in trehalose metabolism and signaling. In this study, the full-length cDNA ofThTPSwas cloned fromTamarix hispidaWilld. A phylogenetic tree includingThTPSand 11AtTPSgenes fromArabidopsisindicated that the ThTPS protein had a close evolutionary relationship with AtTPS7. However, the function ofAtTPS7has not been determined. To analyze the abiotic stress tolerance function ofThTPS, the expression ofThTPSinT. hispidaunder salt and drought stress and JA, ABA and GA3 hormone stimulation was monitored by qRT-PCR. The results show thatThTPSexpression was clearly induced by all five of these treatments at one or more times, and salt stress caused particularly strong induction ofThTPSin the roots ofT. hispida. TheThTPSgene was transiently overexpressed inT. hispida. Both physiological indexes and staining results showed thatThTPSgene overexpression increased salt and osmotic stress tolerance inT. hispida. Overall, theThTPSgene can respond to abiotic stresses such as salt and drought, and its overexpression can significantly improve salt and osmotic tolerance. These findings establish a foundation to better understand the responses ofTPSgenes to abiotic stress in plants.

Automated summary

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide that enhances the resistance of organisms to various abiotic stresses. This study found that the ThTPS gene can respond to abiotic stress in T. hispida, such as salt and drought, and overexpression of this gene significantly improves salt and osmotic tolerance.