PagbHLH35 Enhances Salt Tolerance through Improving ROS Scavenging in Transgenic Poplar

The bHLH transcription factor family plays crucial roles in plant growth and development and their responses to adversity. In this study, a highly salt-induced bHLH gene, PagbHLH35 (Potri.018G141600), was identified from Populus alba × P. glandullosa (84K poplar). PagbHLH35 contains a highly conserved bHLH domain within the region of 52–114 amino acids. A subcellular localization result confirmed its nuclear localization. A yeast two-hybrid assay indicated PagbHLH35 lacks transcriptional activation activity, while a yeast one-hybrid assay indicated it could specifically bind to G-box and E-box elements. The expression of PagbHLH35 reached its peak at 12 h and 36 h time points under salt stress in the leaves and roots, respectively. A total of three positive transgenic poplar lines overexpressing PagbHLH35 were generated via Agrobacterium-mediated leaf disk transformation. Under NaCl stress, the transgenic poplars exhibited significantly enhanced morphological and physiological advantages such as higher POD activity, SOD activity, chlorophyll content, and proline content, and lower dehydration rate, MDA content and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content, compared to wild-type (WT) plants. In addition, histological staining showed that there was lower ROS accumulation in the transgenic poplars under salt stress. Moreover, the relative expression levels of several antioxidant genes in the transgenic poplars were significantly higher than those in the WT. All the results indicate that PagbHLH35 can improve salt tolerance by enhancing ROS scavenging in transgenic poplars.