AUTHOR=Cai Guohua , Niu Mingyu , Sun Zhihao , Wang Huakun , Zhang Shuo , Liu Fei , Wu Yanqun , Wang Guodong 

TITLE=A small heat shock protein (SlHSP17.3) in tomato plays a positive role in salt stress

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1443625

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2024.1443625

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are molecular chaperones that are widely present in plants and play a vital role in the response of plants to various environmental stimuli. This study employed transgenic <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> to investigate the impact of the new tomato (<italic>Solanum lycopersicum</italic>) sHSP protein (SlHSP17.3) on salt stress tolerance. Transient conversion analysis of <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> protoplasts revealed that SlHSP17.3 localized to the cytoplasm. Furthermore, as suggested by expression analysis, salt stress stimulated <italic>SlHSP17.3</italic> expression, suggesting that SlHSP17.3 is involved in the salt stress response of plants. <italic>SlHSP17.3</italic>-overexpressing plants presented greater germination rates, fresh weights, chlorophyll contents, and Fv/Fm ratios, as well as longer root lengths, lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and lighter cell membrane injury under salt stress. Furthermore, certain stress-related genes (<italic>AtCOR15</italic>, <italic>AtDREB1B</italic>, and <italic>AtHSFA2</italic>) were up-regulated in salt-stressed transgenic plants. Overall, <italic>SlHSP17.3</italic> overexpression improved the salt stress resistance of transgenic plants, mainly through increasing <italic>AtCOR15</italic>, <italic>AtDREB1B</italic>, and <italic>AtHSFA2</italic> expression.</p>