AUTHOR=Xing Baoyue , Gu Chenrui , Zhang Tianxu , Zhang Qingzhu , Yu Qibin , Jiang Jing , Liu Guifeng 

TITLE=Functional Study of BpPP2C1 Revealed Its Role in Salt Stress in Betula platyphylla

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.617635

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2020.617635

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>PP2C protein phosphatase family is one of the largest gene families in the plant genome. Many PP2C family members are involved in the regulation of abiotic stress. We found that <italic>BpPP2C1</italic> gene has highly up-regulated in root under salt stress in <italic>Betula platyphylla</italic>. Thus, transgenic plants of <italic>Betula platyphylla</italic> with overexpression and knockout of <italic>BpPP2C1</italic> gene were generated using a zygote transformation system. Under NaCl stress treatment, we measured the phenotypic traits of transgenic plants, chlorophyll-fluorescence parameters, peroxidase (POD) activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. We found that <italic>BpPP2C1</italic> overexpressed lines showed obvious salt tolerance, while <italic>BpPP2C1</italic> knocked out plants were sensitive to salt stress. Transcriptome analysis identified significantly amount of differentially expressed genes associated with salt stress in <italic>BpPP2C1</italic> transgenic lines, especially genes in abscisic acid signaling pathway, flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, oxidative stress and anion transport. Functional study of <italic>BpPP2C1</italic> in <italic>Betula platyphylla</italic> revealed its role in salt stress.</p>