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Modifying the Expression of Cysteine Protease Gene PCP Affects Pollen Development, Germination and Plant Drought Tolerance in Maize.

Authors :
Li, Yanhua
Niu, Liangjie
Zhou, Xiaoli
Liu, Hui
Tai, Fuju
Wang, Wei
Source :
International Journal of Molecular Sciences; Apr2023, Vol. 24 Issue 8, p7406, 17p
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Cysteine proteases (CPs) are vital proteolytic enzymes that play critical roles in various plant processes. However, the particular functions of CPs in maize remain largely unknown. We recently identified a pollen-specific CP (named PCP), which highly accumulated on the surface of maize pollen. Here, we reported that PCP played an important role in pollen germination and drought response in maize. Overexpression of PCP inhibited pollen germination, while mutation of PCP promoted pollen germination to some extent. Furthermore, we observed that germinal apertures of pollen grains in the PCP-overexpression transgenic lines were excessively covered, whereas this phenomenon was not observed in the wild type (WT), suggesting that PCP regulated pollen germination by affecting the germinal aperture structure. In addition, overexpression of PCP enhanced drought tolerance in maize plants, along with the increased activities of the antioxidant enzymes and the decreased numbers of the root cortical cells. Conversely, mutation of PCP significantly impaired drought tolerance. These results may aid in clarifying the precise functions of CPs in maize and contribute to the development of drought-tolerant maize materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
16616596
Volume :
24
Issue :
8
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
163435307
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24087406