Ectopic expression of the <italic>LoERF017</italic> transcription factor from <italic>Larix olgensis</italic> Henry enhances salt and osmotic-stress tolerance in <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic>.

Dehydration-responsive element binding (DREB) transcription factors (TFs) play a significant role in the response to many abiotic stresses, and they can regulate the downstream expression of some defense genes. In this study, a novel DREB TF gene, designated as <italic>LoERF017</italic>, was identified from <italic>Larix olgensis</italic>. The ORF of the <italic>LoERF017</italic> gene is 624 bp and it contains an AP2/EREBP domain belonging to a typical DREB TF. Sub-cellular location analysis showed that LoERF017 was located in the nucleus. QRT-PCR analysis indicated that <italic>LoERF017</italic> could be induced by NaCl, PEG6000, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), and ABA treatment. Moreover, an analysis of the survival rate and the development of transgenic plants under mannitol and NaCl revealed that the overexpression of <italic>LoERF017</italic> in <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> could improve tolerance to osmotic and salt stress. Compared with wild-type (WT) plants, the overexpression of <italic>LoERF017</italic> resulted in higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels under osmotic stress. Downstream stress-responsive genes, including <italic>COR, rd29A</italic>, and <italic>ERD10</italic>, were also activated in transgenic plants overexpressing <italic>LoERF017</italic>. In brief, the overexpression of the <italic>LoERF017</italic> gene may directly or indirectly induce antioxidant enzyme systems and downstream stress-response genes to enhance osmotic resistance capacity in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]