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Abiotic stresses such as salinity and drought greatly impact the growth and production of crops worldwide. Here, a shikimate kinase-like 2 (SKL2) gene was cloned from rice and characterized for its regulatory function in salinity and drought tolerance. OsSKL2 was localized in the chloroplast, and its transcripts were significantly induced by drought and salinity stress as well as H2O2 and abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. Meanwhile, overexpression of OsSKL2 in rice increased tolerance to salinity, drought and oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant enzyme activity, and reducing levels of H2O2, malondialdehyde, and relative electrolyte leakage. In contrast, RNAi-induced suppression of OsSKL2 increased sensitivity to stress treatment. Interestingly, overexpression of OsSKL2 also increased sensitivity to exogenous ABA, with an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Moreover, OsSKL2 was found to physically interact with OsASR1, a well-known chaperone-like protein, which also exhibited positive roles in salt and drought tolerance. A reduction in ROS production was also observed in leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana showing transient co-expression of OsSKL2 with OsASR1. Taken together, these findings suggest that OsSKL2 together with OsASR1 act as important regulatory factors that confer salt and drought tolerance in rice via ROS scavenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High salinity seriously affects crop growth and yield. Abscisic acid-, stress-, and ripening-induced (ASR) proteins play an important role in plant responses to multiple abiotic stresses. In this study, we identified a new salt-induced ASR gene in rice (OsASR6) and functionally characterized its role in mediating salt tolerance. Transcript levels of OsASR6 were upregulated under salinity stress, H2O2 and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. Nuclear and cytoplasmic localization of the OsASR6 protein were confirmed. Meanwhile, a transactivation activity assay in yeast demonstrated no self-activation ability. Furthermore, transgenic rice plants overexpressing OsASR6 showed enhanced salt and oxidative stress tolerance as a result of reductions in H2O2, malondialdehyde (MDA), Na/K and relative electrolyte leakage. In contrast, OsASR6 RNAi transgenic lines showed opposite results. A higher ABA content was also measured in the OsASR6 overexpressing lines compared with the control. Moreover, OsNCED1, a key enzyme of ABA biosynthesis, was found to interact with OsASR6. Collectively, these results suggest that OsASR6 serves primarily as a functional protein, enhancing tolerance to salt stress, representing a candidate gene for genetic manipulation of new salinity-resistant lines in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abscisic acid (ABA)-, stress-, and ripening-induced (ASR) proteins are reported to be involved in drought stress responses. However, the function of maize ASR genes in enhancing drought tolerance is not known. Here, nine maize ASR members were cloned, and the molecular features of these genes were analyzed. Phenotype results of overexpression of maize ZmASR3 gene in Arabidopsis showed lower malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and higher relative water content (RWC) and proline content than the wild type under drought conditions, demonstrating that ZmASR3 can improve drought tolerance. Further experiments showed that ZmASR3-overexpressing transgenic lines displayed increased stomatal closure and reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation by increasing the enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) under drought conditions. Moreover, overexpression of ZmASR3 in Arabidopsis increased ABA content and reduced sensitivity to exogenous ABA in both the germination and post-germination stages. In addition, the ROS-related, stress-responsive, and ABA-dependent pathway genes were activated in transgenic lines under drought stress. Taken together, these results suggest that ZmASR3 acts as a positive regulator of drought tolerance in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]