Functional analyses of a putative plasma membrane Na+/H+ antiporter gene isolated from salt tolerant Helianthus tuberosus.

Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus L.) can tolerate relatively higher salinity, drought and heat stress. In this paper, we report the cloning of a Salt Overly Sensitive 1 (SOS1) gene encoding a plasma membrane Na(+)/H(+) antiporter from a highly salt-tolerant genotype of H. tuberosus, NY1, named HtSOS1 and characterization of its function in yeast and rice. The amino acid sequence of HtSOS1 showed 83.4% identity with the previously isolated SOS1 gene from the Chrysanthemum crassum. The mRNA level in the leaves of H. tuberosus was significantly up-regulated by presence of high concentrations of NaCl. Localization analysis using rice protoplast expression showed that the protein encoded by HtSOS1 was located in the plasma membrane. HtSOS1 partially suppressed the salt sensitive phenotypes of a salt sensitive yeast strain. In comparison with wild type (Oryza sativa L., ssp. Japonica. cv. Nipponbare), the transgenic rice expressed with HtSOS1 could exclude more Na(+) and accumulate more K(+). Expression of HtSOS1 decreased Na(+) content much larger in the shoot than in the roots, resulting in more water content in the transgenic rice than WT. These data suggested that HtSOS1 may be useful in transgenic approaches to improving the salinity tolerance of glycophyte.