Overexpression of a chloroplast-located peroxiredoxin q gene, SsPrxQ, increases the salt and low-temperature tolerance of Arabidopsis

Abiotic stress, such as salt, drought and extreme temperature, can result in enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Plants have developed both enzymatic ROS-scavenging and non-enzymatic ROS-scavenging systems. The major ROS-scavenging enzymes of plants include superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and peroxiredoxins (Prxs). In the present work, we identified a gene encoding chloroplast-located peroxiredoxin Q, SsPrxQ, from Suaeda salsa L. located at chloroplast. Overexpression of SsPrxQ in Arabidopsis leads to an increase in salt and low-temperature tolerance.