A SNARE-Like Superfamily Protein SbSLSP from the Halophyte Salicornia brachiata Confers Salt and Drought Tolerance by Maintaining Membrane Stability, K(+)/Na(+) Ratio, and Antioxidant Machinery.

About 1000 salt-responsive ESTs were identified from an extreme halophyte Salicornia brachiata. Among these, a novel salt-inducible gene SbSLSP (Salicornia brachiata SNARE-like superfamily protein), showed up-regulation upon salinity and dehydration stress. The presence of cis-regulatory motifs related to abiotic stress in the putative promoter region supports our finding that SbSLSP gene is inducible by abiotic stress. The SbSLSP protein showed a high sequence identity to hypothetical/uncharacterized proteins from Beta vulgaris, Spinacia oleracea, Eucalyptus grandis, and Prunus persica and with SNARE-like superfamily proteins from Zostera marina and Arabidopsis thaliana. Bioinformatics analysis predicted a clathrin adaptor complex small-chain domain and N-myristoylation site in the SbSLSP protein. Subcellular localization studies indicated that the SbSLSP protein is mainly localized in the plasma membrane. Using transgenic tobacco lines, we establish that overexpression of SbSLSP resulted in elevated tolerance to salt and drought stress. The improved tolerance was confirmed by alterations in a range of physiological parameters, including high germination and survival rate, higher leaf chlorophyll contents, and reduced accumulation of Na(+) ion and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, overexpressing lines also showed lower water loss, higher cell membrane stability, and increased accumulation of proline and ROS-scavenging enzymes. Overexpression of SbSLSP also enhanced the transcript levels of ROS-scavenging and signaling enzyme genes. This study is the first investigation of the function of the SbSLSP gene as a novel determinant of salinity/drought tolerance. The results suggest that SbSLSP could be a potential candidate to increase salinity and drought tolerance in crop plants for sustainable agriculture in semi-arid saline soil.

A novel gene SbSI-2 encoding nuclear protein from a halophyte confers abiotic stress tolerance in E. coli and tobacco.

Salicornia brachiata is an extreme halophyte that grows luxuriantly in coastal marshes. Previously, we have reported isolation and characterization of ESTs from Salicornia with large number of novel/unknown salt-responsive gene sequences. In this study, we have selected a novel salt-inducible gene SbSI-2 (Salicornia brachiata salt-inducible-2) for functional characterization. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that SbSI-2 protein has predicted nuclear localization signals and a strong protein-protein interaction domain. Transient expression of the RFP:SbSI2 fusion protein confirmed that SbSI-2 is a nuclear-localized protein. Genomic organization study showed that SbSI-2 is intronless and has a single copy in Salicornia genome. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed higher SbSI-2 expression under salt stress and desiccation conditions. The SbSI-2 gene was transformed in E. coli and tobacco for functional characterization. pET28a-SbSI-2 recombinant E. coli cells showed higher tolerance to desiccation and salinity compared to vector alone. Transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing SbSI-2 have improved salt- and osmotic tolerance, accompanied by better growth parameters, higher relative water content, elevated accumulation of compatible osmolytes, lower Na+ and ROS accumulation and lesser electrolyte leakage than the wild-type. Overexpression of the SbSI-2 also enhanced transcript levels of ROS-scavenging genes and some stress-related transcription factors under salt and osmotic stresses. Taken together, these results demonstrate that SbSI-2 might play an important positive modulation role in abiotic stress tolerance. This identifies SbSI-2 as a novel determinant of salt/osmotic tolerance and suggests that it could be a potential bioresource for engineering abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants.

A novel salt-inducible gene SbSI-1 from Salicornia brachiata confers salt and desiccation tolerance in E. coli.

Salicornia brachiata is one of the extreme salt tolerant plants and grows luxuriantly in coastal areas. Previously we have reported isolation and characterization of ESTs from S. brachiata with large number of unknown gene sequences. Reverse Northern analysis showed upregulation and downregulation of few unknown genes in response to salinity. Some of these unknown genes were made full length and their functional analysis is being tested. In this study, we have selected a novel unknown salt inducible gene SbSI-1 (Salicornia brachiata salt inducible-1) for the functional validation. The SbSI-1 (Gen-Bank accession number JF 965339) was made full length and characterized in detail for its functional validation under desiccation and salinity. The SbSI-1 gene is 917 bp long, and contained 437 bp 3' UTR, and 480 bp ORF region encoding 159 amino acids protein with estimated molecular mass of 18.39 kDa and pI 8.58. The real time PCR analysis revealed high transcript expression in salt, desiccation, cold and heat stresses. However, the maximum expression was obtained by desiccation. The ORF region of SbSI-1 was cloned in pET28a vector and transformed in BL21 (DE3) E. coli cells. The SbSI-1 recombinant E. coli cells showed tolerance to desiccation and salinity stress compared to only vector in the presence of stress.