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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Biotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1547677
This article is part of the Research Topic From Genomics to Genome Editing: Crop Improvement Innovations for Farmers Worldwide View all 4 articles
Functional analysis of NtPDX2 in Nicotiana tabacum L. Associated with Stem Development
Provisionally accepted
Li XU 1
Yuxin Cui 2*
Jiaxin Xing 3
Qili Mi 1 Wanli Zeng 1 Haiying Xiang 1 Xujing Wang 1
Jiarui Jiang 1
Deng Lele 1 Kunmiao Wang 1
Jiang Tao Yang 2
Qian Gao 1- 1 China Tobacco Yunnan Industrial Co., Ltd., Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
- 2 Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China
- 3 Institute of Biotechnology and Germplasm Resources, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kuming, Yunnan Province, China
Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin that is essential for all living organisms in their life activities. Among its forms, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) is the primary metabolically active form of Vitamin B6, which usually plays a crucial role in the metabolism of proteins, fatty acids, and carbohydrates. To date, although the molecular functions of genes involved in vitamin B6 biosynthesis, including Pdx1, Pdx2, Pdx3, and Sos4, have been reported in various plants, no studies have yet explored the functions of NtPDX1 and NtPDX2 in tobacco. This study used the Nicotiana tabacum L. as material to clone the CDS sequence of the NtPDXs. Through bioinformatics analysis, we predicted the phylogenetic relationships and functions of these genes; the subcellular localization of NtPDX2 was found to be in the cytoplasmic structures. By conducting both constitutive overexpression and homozygous knockout studies of the NtPDX2, we observed a significant increase in vitamin B6 content in the stem tissues of overexpressing plants (up to 150%), while knockout plants showed a decrease to 60%. This led to changes in agronomic traits such as plant height and stem thickness in tobacco plants. The overexpressing plants exhibited a significant increase in height (100.93 cm) and stem thickness (13.64 cm), whereas the knockout plants were shorter in height (73.10 cm) and had thinner stems (10.83 cm). By integrating transcriptome sequencing technology with molecular biology methods, we aim to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of NtPDX2 in tobacco growth and development, thereby providing new genetic resources and a theoretical foundation for the cultivation of new tobacco varieties with superior quality for flue-cured tobacco.
Keywords: Nicotiana tabacum L., Plant height, stem thickness, Vitamin B6, NtPDX2
Received: 18 Dec 2024; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 XU, Cui, Xing, Mi, Zeng, Xiang, Wang, Jiang, Lele, Wang, Yang and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yuxin Cui, Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China
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