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Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a notable pathogen frequently associated with hospital-acquired infections, displays diverse intrinsic and acquired antibiotic resistance mechanisms, posing a significant challenge in infection management. Antimicrobial blue light (aBL) has been demonstrated as a potential alternative for treating P. aeruginosa infections. In this study, we investigated the impact of blue light wavelength, bacterial growth stage, and growth medium composition on the efficacy of aBL. First, we compared the efficacy of light wavelengths 405 nm, 415 nm, and 470 nm in killing three multidrug resistant clinical strains of P. aeruginosa. The findings indicated considerably higher antibacterial efficacy for 405 nm and 415 nm wavelength compared to 470 nm. We then evaluated the impact of the bacterial growth stage on the efficacy of 405 nm light in killing P. aeruginosa using a reference strain PAO1 in exponential, transitional, or stationary phase. We found that bacteria in the exponential phase were the most susceptible to aBL, followed by the transitional phase, while those in the stationary phase exhibited the highest tolerance. Additionally, we quantified the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in bacteria using the 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) probe and flow cytometry, and observed a positive correlation between aBL efficacy and ROS production. Finally, we determined the influence of growth medium on aBL efficacy. PAO1 was cultivated in brain heart infusion (BHI), Luria-Bertani (LB) broth or Casamino acids (CAA) medium, before being irradiated with aBL at 405 nm. The CAA-grown bacteria exhibited the highest sensitivity to aBL, followed by those grown in LB broth, and the BHI-grown bacteria demonstrated the lowest sensitivity. By incorporating FeCl 3 , MnCl 2 , ZnCl 2 , or the iron chelator 2,2'-bipyridine (BIP) into specific media, we discovered that aBL efficacy was affected by the iron levels in culture media., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The formation of adventitious roots (AR) is an essential step in the vegetative propagation of economically woody species. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) function as signaling molecules in regulating root growth and development. Here, we identified an R2R3-MYB transcription factor PagMYB180 as a regulator of AR formation in hybrid poplar (Populus alba × Populus glandulosa). PagMYB180 was specifically expressed in the vascular tissues of poplar roots, stems and leaves, and its protein was localized in the nucleus and acted as a transcriptional repressor. Both dominant repression and overexpression of PagMYB180 resulted in a significant reduction of AR quantity, a substantial increase of AR length, and an elevation of both the quantity and length of lateral roots (LR) compared to the wild type (WT) plants. Furthermore, PagMYB180 regulates programmed cell death (PCD) in root cortex cells, which is associated with elevated levels of ROS. Transcriptome and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analyses revealed that a series of differentially expressed genes are related to ROS, PCD and ethylene synthesis. Taken together, these results suggest that PagMYB180 may regulate AR development via a ROS/PCD-dependent pathway in poplar., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

WRKY transcription factors are involved in various biological processes, such as development, metabolism and responses to stress. However, their exact roles in abiotic stress tolerance are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrated a working model for the function of a WRKY gene (ThWRKY4) from Tamarix hispida in the stress response. ThWRKY4 is highly induced by abscisic acid (ABA), salt and drought in the early period of stress (stress for 3, 6, or 9 h), which can be regulated by ABF (ABRE binding factors) and Dof (DNA binding with one finger), and also can be crossregulated by other WRKYs and autoregulated as well. Overexpression of ThWRKY4 conferred tolerance to salt, oxidative and ABA treatment in transgenic plants. ThWRKY4 can improve the tolerance to salt and ABA treatment by improving activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase, decreasing levels of O2 (-) and H2O2, reducing electrolyte leakage, keeping the loss of chlorophyll, and protecting cells from death. Microarray analyses showed that overexpression of ThWRKY4 in Arabidopsis leads to 165 and 100 genes significantly up- and downregulated, respectively. Promoter scanning analysis revealed that ThWRKY4 regulates the gene expression via binding to W-box motifs present in their promoter regions. This study shows that ThWRKY4 functions as a transcription factor to positively modulate abiotic stress tolerances, and is involved in modulating reactive oxygen species.

The MYB family is one of the largest families of transcription factors, in which the R2R3-MYB subgroup plays a crucial role in various biological processes. R2R3-MYBs in Populus davidiana × Populus bolleana have, however, not been systematically investigated. Here, based on the gene annotation of P. davidiana × P. bolleana genome sequence, all PdbR2R3-MYB transcripts were identified. These PdbR2R3-MYBs were classified into 29 subgroups (C2 to C30) according to the phylogenetic analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana AtR2R3-MYBs. The analysis of gene structures and protein motifs showed the conservation and evolution of PdbR2R3-MYBs. The cis-acting elements in the promoters of PdbR2R3-MYB genes were predicted, and the results indicated an abundance of abscisic acid and defense- and stress-responsive elements. The results of qRT-PCR revealed that nine PdbR2R3-MYB genes were differentially expressed in various tissues and can be regulated by drought stress; thus, these genes may play key roles in the response of plants to drought stress. In addition, the expression of PdbMYB5 and PdbMYB102 was significantly higher than those of the other seven MYB genes; hence, PdbMYB5 and PdbMYB102 overexpressing (OE) and silenced (SE) poplar plants were generated to investigate drought stress tolerance. The PdbMYB5 and PdbMYB102 OE plants showed enhanced reactive oxygen species scavenging capability, less cell damage, and high expression levels of the SOD and POD genes, whereas the SE plants showed the opposite results, thus suggesting that PdbMYB5 and PdbMYB102 conferred enhanced drought tolerance to the plants. This study provided insights into gene characterization, structure, evolution, expression, and function of the PdbR2R3-MYB family in poplar plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in abiotic stress tolerance. However, their function in conferring abiotic stress tolerance is still unclear. Herein, we characterized the function of a salt‐responsive nuclear lncRNA (BplncSIR1) from Betula platyphylla (birch). Birch plants overexpressing and knocking out for BplncSIR1 were generated. BplncSIR1 was found to improve salt tolerance by inducing antioxidant activity and stomatal closure, and also accelerate plant growth. Chromatin isolation by RNA purification (ChIRP) combined with RNA sequencing indicated that BplncSIR1 binds to the promoter of BpNAC2 (encoding NAC domain‐containing protein 2) to activate its expression. Plants overexpressing and knocking out for BpNAC2 were generated. Consistent with that of BplncSIR1, overexpression of BpNAC2 also accelerated plant growth and conferred salt tolerance. In addition, BpNAC2 binds to different cis‐acting elements, such as G‐box and 'CCAAT' sequences, to regulate the genes involved in salt tolerance, resulting in reduced ROS accumulation and decreased water loss rate by stomatal closure. Taken together, BplncSIR1 serves as the regulator of BpNAC2 to induce its expression in response to salt stress, and activated BpNAC2 accelerates plant growth and improves salt tolerance. Therefore, BplncSIR1 might be a candidate gene for molecular breeding to cultivate plants with both a high growth rate and improved salt tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microRNAs, which are small RNAs of 18–25 nt in length, act as key regulatory factors in posttranscriptional gene expression during plant growth and development. However, little is known about their regulatory roles in response to stressful environments in birch (Betula platyphylla). Here, we characterized and further explored miRNAs from osmotic- and salt-stressed birch. Our analysis revealed a total of 190 microRNA (miRNA) sequences, which were classified into 180 conserved miRNAs and 10 predicted novel miRNAs based on sequence homology. Furthermore, we identified Bp-miR408a under osmotic and salt stress and elucidated its role in osmotic and salt stress responses in birch. Notably, under osmotic and salt stress, Bp-miR408a contributed to osmotic and salt tolerance sensitivity by mediating various physiological changes, such as increases in reactive oxygen species accumulation, osmoregulatory substance contents and Na+ accumulation. Additionally, molecular analysis provided evidence of the in vivo targeting of BpBCP1 (blue copper protein) transcripts by Bp-miR408a. The overexpression of BpBCP1 in birch enhanced osmotic and salt tolerance by increasing the antioxidant enzyme activity, maintaining cellular ion homeostasis and decreasing lipid peroxidation and cell death. Thus, we reveal a Bp-miR408a – BpBCP1 regulatory module that mediates osmotic and salt stress responses in birch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichoderma can induce plant hormone signal pathways mediating plant defenses, resulting in broad-spectrum resistance to phytopathogens. Herein, Malus sieversii seedlings were treated with Trichoderma biofertilizer and/or Alternaria alternata f. sp. mali , and transcriptome analysis revealed significant differential expression. There was a high similarity between the transcriptome expression profiles of Trichoderma -induced and A. alternata -infected M. sieversii samples for genes related to jasmonic acid (JA), ethylene, and salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathways. Additionally, Trichoderma biofertilizer activated numerous disease-resistant genes (ERF , NAC , bHLH , and STK) and defense response genes (DRP , ABC , and HSP). Among transcription factors, members of the ERF family were the most differentially expressed (18 ERF s), indicating that they may be closely related to defense responses. Among ERFs, differential expression of MsERF105 was the most significant (upregulated 27.6-fold compared to controls). MsERF105 was heterologously expressed in PdPap poplar (Populus davidiana × Populus alba var. pyramidalis Louche), and following infection with A. alternata (Aal), transgenic PdPap-MsERF105s plants displayed lower malondialdehyde (downregulated 41.4%) and reactive oxygen species (ROSs) levels, and higher reductase activities, especially superoxide dismutase (SOD; upregulated 77.5% compared to PdPap-ROK2 plants). Furthermore, the lesion areas of PdPap-MsERF105s leaves were significantly smaller (0.2%) than those of PdPap-ROK2 leaves (∼26.0%), and the cell membrane integrity was superior for PdPap-MsERF105s leaves. Thus, MsERF105 enhanced the resistance of PaPap poplar to Aal, presumably because MsERF105 activates the expression of PR1 and PDF1.2. In conclusion, Trichoderma biofertilizer modulated the differential expression of numerous disease resistance genes and defense response genes in M. sieversii in response to pathogen attack, and MsERF105 played important roles in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The homeodomain‐leucine zipper (HD‐Zip) proteins play crucial roles in plant developmental and environmental responses. However, how they mediate gene expression to facilitate abiotic stress tolerance remains unknown. In the present study, we characterized BpHOX2 (encoding a HD‐Zip I family protein) from birch (Betula platyphylla). BpHOX2 is predominately expressed in mature stems and leaves, but expressed at a low level in apical buds and roots, suggesting that it has tissue‐specific characteristics. BpHOX2 expression was highly induced by osmotic and salt, but only slightly induced by abscisic acid. Overexpression of BpHOX2 markedly improved osmotic tolerance, while knockdown of BpHOX2 increased sensitivity to osmotic stress. BpHOX2 could induce the expression of pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate synthase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase genes to improve proline levels and the reactive oxygen species scavenging capability. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing combined with RNA sequencing showed that BpHOX2 could bind to at least four cis‐acting elements, including dehydration‐responsive element "RCCGAC", Myb‐p binding box "CCWACC," and two novel cis‐acting elements with the sequences of "AAGAAG" and "TACGTG" (termed HBS1 and HBS2, respectively) to regulate gene expression. Our results suggested that BpHOX2 is a transcription factor that binds to different cis‐acting elements to regulate gene expression, ultimately improving osmotic tolerance in birch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated gene transfer is the most commonly used method for plant genetic engineering. However, during the period of A. tumefaciens culture, the effects of Agrobacterium culture before inoculation on genetic transformation are poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the factors that affect the genetic transformation efficiency during Agrobacterium culture using Tamarix hispida as transgenic plant material. Agrobacterium treatment with spermidine (Spe), azacitidine (5-AzaC), dithiothreitol (DTT), or acetosyringone (AS) alone all significantly improved the efficiency of T-DNA transfer. Treatment with 5-AzaC reduced DNA methylation in Agrobacterium to induce the expression of virulence (vir) family genes, including vir A, vir B1, vir C1, vir D2, vir D4 vir E2, and vir G. Spe treatment significantly induced the expression of all the studied genes, including vir A, vir B1, vir C1, vir D1, vir D2, vir D4, vir E2, and vir G. DTT treatment decreased reactive oxygen species accumulation. AS treatment activated the expression of the genes vir A, vir B1, vir C1, vir D1, vir D2, vir D4 and vir G. All these effects resulted in increased T-DNA transfer. Additionally, combined Spe, 5-AzaC, DTT, and AS treatment improve Agrobacterium infection to a greater extent compared with their use alone, increasing T-DNA transfer by more than 8-fold relative to no treatment. Therefore, to improve genetic transformation, pretreatment of Agrobacterium during the culture period is important for improving genetic transformation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Basic leucine zipper proteins (bZIPs) are transcription factors that bind abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive elements (ABREs) and enable plants to withstand adverse environmental conditions. In the present study, a novel bZIP gene, ThbZIP1 was cloned from Tamarix hispida. Expression studies in T. hispida showed differential regulation of ThbZIP1 in response to treatment with NaCl, polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000, NaHCO3, and CdCl2, suggesting that ThbZIP1 is involved in abiotic stress responses. To identify the physiological responses mediated by ThbZIP1, transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing exogenous ThbZIP1 were generated. Various physiological parameters related to salt stress were measured and compared between transgenic and wild type (WT) plants. Our results indicate that overexpression of ThbZIP1 can enhance the activity of both peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and increase the content of soluble sugars and soluble proteins under salt stress conditions. These results suggest that ThbZIP1 contributes to salt tolerance by mediating signaling through multiple physiological pathways. Furthermore, ThbZIP1 confers stress tolerance to plants by enhancing reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, facilitating the accumulation of compatible osmolytes, and inducing and/or enhancing the biosynthesis of soluble proteins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Alkali grass (Puccinellia tenuiflora), a monocotyledonous halophyte, can serve as a model of salt tolerance in monocotyledon crops. To elucidate the molecular events associated with salt tolerance in alkali grass, we generated a directional cDNA library from leaves treated with the alkali salt, NaHCO3. Large-scale sequencing of the cDNA library identified 2942 ESTs representing 2366 non-redundant transcripts. These have been deposited in the dbEST division of GenBank. BLASTX evaluation indicated that 1274 of the ESTs were homologous to various known genes/proteins in a broad range of organisms, especially gramineae species. The other 1092 ESTs, which showed little if any homology to known sequences, were considered novel. Based on the encoded proteins, the 1274 identified ESTs fell into 12 functional categories, of which four were abundant, namely metabolism (18.84%), transcription (12.48%), unclassified (11.22%) and cell rescue/defense (9.66%). The 162 unique transcripts corresponding to possible salt-related genes were also identified. This study provides an overview of gene expression in NaHCO3-stressed alkali grass, as well as useful information for further investigation of salt resistance in plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Plant specific NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2 and CUC2) transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in response to abiotic stress. In this study, we identified and characterized a NAC protein, ThNAC7, from Tamarix hispida. ThNAC7 is a nuclear localized protein and has transcriptional activation activity. ThNAC7 expression was markedly induced by salt and osmotic stresses. Transiently transformed T. hispida seedlings overexpressing ThNAC7 (OE) or with RNA interference (RNAi) silenced ThNAC7 were generated to investigate abiotic stress tolerance via the gain- and loss- of function. Overexpressing ThNAC7 showed an increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging capabilities and proline content, which was accomplished by enhancing the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) in transiently transformed T. hispida and stably transformed Arabidopsis plants. Additionally, ThNAC7 activated these physiological changes by regulating the transcription level of P5CS, SOD and PODgenes. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) comparison between wild-type and ThNAC7-transformed Arabidopsis showed that more than 40 known salt tolerance genes might regulated by ThNAC7, including stress tolerance-related genes and TF genes. The results indicated that ThNAC7 induces the transcription level of genes associated with stress tolerance to enhance salt and osmotic stress tolerance via an increase in osmotic potential and enhanced ROS scavenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant homeodomain (PHD) proteins are a family of zinc finger transcription factors that play roles in abiotic stress tolerance. However, their mechanisms in conferring salt tolerance are largely unknown. In this study, we characterized a PHD gene, PdbPHD3, from Populus davidiana × P. bolleana (Shanxin poplar) in response to salt stress. PdbPHD3 is a nuclear protein that is strongly induced by salt and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. Overexpression of PdbPHD3 conferred salt tolerance, while silencing of PdbPHD3 increased sensitivity to salt. PdbPHD3 could enhance the activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase to reduce the abundance of reactive oxygen species, and enhance the osmotic potential by increasing the proline content. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) revealed that PdbPHD3 could bind to various DNA motifs, including the G-box ("CACGTG"), PALBOXAPC ("GGACGG"), and POLLEN1LELAT52 ("TTTCTT"). ChIP-seq combined with RNA sequencing identified a transcription factor gene, squamosa promoter binding protein 3 (PdbSBP3), which is directly regulated by PdbPHD3. Overexpression and silencing of PdbSBP3 improved and decreased salt tolerance, respectively. PdbSBP3 could also regulate all the physiological changes associated with salt tolerance, similar to PdbPHD3. These results suggest that PdbPHD3 confers salt tolerance by regulating PdbSBP3 to reduce ROS accumulation and increase proline content. Therefore, the regulatory axis of PdbPHD3 and PdbSBP3 confers salt tolerance in Shanxin poplar. • PdbPHD3 binds to G-box motif to induce the expression of PdbSBP3. • PdbSBP3 confers salt tolerance by reducing ROS accumulation and enhancing proline contents. • Salt stress induces PdbPHD3, and PdbPHD3 activates PdbSBP3 to confers salt tolerance. • PdbPHD3-PdbSBP3 regulatory pathway responding to salt is revealed in Shanxin poplar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in abiotic stress responses. However, how WRKY facilitate physiological changes to confer salt tolerance still needs to be studied. Here, we identified a WRKY TF from birch (Betula platyphylla Suk), BpWRKY32, which is significantly (P < 0.05) induced by salt stress. BpWRKY32 binds to W-box motif and is located in the nucleus. Under salt stress conditions, fresh weights (FW) of OE lines (BpWRKY32 overexpression lines) are increased by 66.36% than that of WT, while FW of knockout of BpWRKY32 (bpwrky32) lines are reduced by 39.49% compared with WT. BpWRKY32 regulates the expression of BpRHC1 , BpNRT1 , and BpMYB61 to reduce stomatal, and width-length ratio of the stomatal aperture in OE lines are reduced by 46.23% and 64.72% compared with in WT and bpwrky32 lines. BpWRKY32 induces P5CS expression, but inhibits P5CDH expression, leading to the proline content in OE lines are increased by 33.41% and 97.58% compared with WT and bpwrky32 lines. Additionally, BpWRKY32 regulates genes encoding SOD and POD family members, which correspondingly increases the activities of SOD and POD. These results suggested that BpWRKY32 regulates target genes to reduce the water loss rate, enhance the osmotic potential, and reduce the ROS accumulation, leading to improved salt tolerance. • WRKY TF, BpWRKY32, were identified in Betula platyphylla and induced by salt stress. • BpWRKY32 binds to W-box motifs and is located in the nucleus. • BpWRKY32 regulates a series of genes to promote physiological changes. • BpWRKY32 can lead to improved salt tolerance in birch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethylene-Responsive Factors (ERFs) are plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) involved in multiple biological processes, especially in abiotic stress tolerance. However, the ERFs from woody halophytes that are involved in salt stress have been little studied. In the present investigation, we characterized a subfamily member of ERF TFs from Tamarix hispida , ThCRF1, which responds to salt stress. ThCRF1 is a nuclear protein that binds to the motifs including TTG, DRE and GCC-box. Transient transformation was performed to generate T. hispida overexpressing ThCRF1 and RNA interference (RNAi)-silenced ThCRF1 to analyze its function using gain- and loss-of-function methods. Overexpression of ThCRF1 in T. hispida significantly improved tolerance to salt-shock-induced stress; by contrast, RNAi-silence of ThCRF1 significantly decreased tolerance to salt-shock-induced stress. Further experiments showed that ThCRF1 induces the expression of genes including those encoding pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase ( P5CS ), trehalose-6-phosphate synthase ( TPS ), trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase ( TPP ), superoxide dismutase ( SOD ) and peroxidase ( POD ), which lead to enhanced proline and trehalose levels and increased SOD and POD activities. These results were further confirmed by studying transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing ThCRF1 . Therefore, the results suggested that ThCRF1 improves tolerance to salt-shock-induced stress by enhancing trehalose and proline biosynthesis to adjust the osmotic potential, and by improving SOD and POD activities to increase reactive oxygen species scavenging capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) are a large family that play important roles in various biological processes, such as signal transduction, RNA binding, morphogenesis, transcriptional regulation, abiotic or biotic stress response. However, the functions of ZFPs involved in abiotic stress are largely not known. In the present study, we cloned and functionally characterized a ZFP gene, ThZFP1 , from Tamarix hispida . The expression of ThZFP1 is highly induced by NaCl, mannitol or ABA treatment. To study the function of ThZFP1 involved in abiotic stress response, transgenic T. hispida plants with overexpression or knockdown of ThZFP1 were generated using a transient transformation system. Gain- and loss-of-function studies of ThZFP1 suggested that ThZFP1 can induce the expression of a series of genes, including delta-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase ( P5CS ), peroxidase ( POD ) and superoxide dismutase ( SOD ), leading to accumulation of proline and enhanced activities of SOD and POD. These physiological changes enhanced proline content and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging capability when exposed to salt or osmotic stress. All the results obtained from T. hispida plants were further confirmed by analyses of the transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing ThZFP1 . These data together suggested that ThZFP1 positively regulates proline accumulation and activities of SOD and POD under salt and osmotic stress conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE 3-LIKE (EIL) transcription factor (TF) family plays a key role in the ethylene signal transduction pathway. However, it is still unknown how EIL proteins mediate salt tolerance in Tamarix hispida. Here, we cloned and functionally characterized the TF ThEIL1 from T. hispida. ThEIL1 is a nuclear protein possessing transcriptional activation activity. In addition to binding to the PERE motif (GGATTCAA), a novel EIL protein-DNA interaction was identified, in which ThEIL1 binds to GCC-box (AGCCGCC). Gain- and loss-of-function analysis in T. hispida showed that ThEIL1 regulates the expression of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS), pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS), and trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP) to mediate the biosynthesis of proline and trehalose, respectively, thereby elevating osmotic potential. Additionally, ThEIL1 controls the activities of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) by regulating the expression of genes encoding SODs and PODs , leading to increased reactive oxygen species scavenging capability. Moreover, overexpression of ThEIL1 in Arabidopsis significantly increased root length and fresh weight under salt treatment conditions. Furthermore, the physiological traits of T. hispida were consistent with those of Arabidopsis stably overexpressing ThEIL1. Thus, ThEIL1 serves as a TF that mediates salt tolerance by elevating osmotic potential and improving ROS scavenging capability. • ThEIL1 confers salt tolerance to Tamarix hispida and Arabidopsis. • ThEIL1 binds to GCC-box (AGCCGCC) to regulate gene expression. • Overexpression of ThEIL1 increases proline and trehalose contents. • ThEIL1 expression improves ROS scavenging capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]