Expression of an Arabidopsis vacuolar H+-pyrophosphatase gene (AVP1) in cotton improves drought- and salt tolerance and increases fibre yield in the field conditions.

The Arabidopsis gene AVP1 encodes a vacuolar pyrophosphatase that functions as a proton pump on the vacuolar membrane. Overexpression of AVP1 in Arabidopsis, tomato and rice enhances plant performance under salt and drought stress conditions, because up-regulation of the type I H+-PPase from Arabidopsis may result in a higher proton electrochemical gradient, which facilitates enhanced sequestering of ions and sugars into the vacuole, reducing water potential and resulting in increased drought- and salt tolerance when compared to wild-type plants. Furthermore, overexpression of AVP1 stimulates auxin transport in the root system and leads to larger root systems, which helps transgenic plants absorb water more efficiently under drought conditions. Using the same approach, AVP1-expressing cotton plants were created and tested for their performance under high-salt and reduced irrigation conditions. The AVP1-expressing cotton plants showed more vigorous growth than wild-type plants in the presence of 200 mM NaCl under hydroponic growth conditions. The soil-grown AVP1-expressing cotton plants also displayed significantly improved tolerance to both drought and salt stresses in greenhouse conditions. Furthermore, the fibre yield of AVP1-expressing cotton plants is at least 20% higher than that of wild-type plants under dry-land conditions in the field. This research indicates that AVP1 has the potential to be used for improving crop's drought- and salt tolerance in areas where water and salinity are limiting factors for agricultural productivity.

Pasapula V ，Shen G ，Kuppu S ，Paez-Valencia J ，Mendoza M ，Hou P ，Chen J ，Qiu X ，Zhu L ，Zhang X ，Auld D ，Blumwald E ，Zhang H ，Gaxiola R ，Payton P ... -  《-》

Expression of an Arabidopsis vacuolar sodium/proton antiporter gene in cotton improves photosynthetic performance under salt conditions and increases fiber yield in the field.

He C ，Yan J ，Shen G ，Fu L ，Holaday AS ，Auld D ，Blumwald E ，Zhang H ... -  《PLANT AND CELL PHYSIOLOGY》

Cloning of a vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase gene from the halophyte Suaeda corniculata whose heterologous overexpression improves salt, saline-alkali and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Salt, saline-alkali conditions, and drought are major environmental factors limiting plant growth and productivity. The vacuolar H(+)-translocating inorganic pyrophosphatase (V-H(+)-PPase) is an electrogenic proton pump that translocates protons into vacuoles in plant cells. Expression of V-H(+)-PPase increases in plants under a number of abiotic stresses, and is thought to have an important role in adaptation to abiotic stress. In this work, we report the isolation and characterization of the gene, ScVP, encoding a vacuolar inorganic pyrophosphatase (V-H(+)-PPase) from the halophyte, Suaeda corniculata. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that ScVP was induced in roots, stems and leaves under treatment with salt, saline-alkali and drought. Compared with wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis, transgenic plants overexpressing ScVP accumulated more Na(+) in leaves and roots, and showed increased tolerance to high salinity, saline-alkali and drought stresses. The germination percentage of transgenic Arabidopsis seeds was higher than that of WT seeds under the abiotic stresses. The root length of transgenic plants under salt stress was longer than that of WT plants. Furthermore, the rate of water loss during drought stress was higher in WT than in transgenic plants. Collectively, these results indicate that ScVP plays an important role in plant tolerance to salt, saline-alkali and drought stress.

Liu L ，Wang Y ，Wang N ，Dong YY ，Fan XD ，Liu XM ，Yang J ，Li HY ... -  《-》

Creating drought- and salt-tolerant cotton by overexpressing a vacuolar pyrophosphatase gene.

Zhang H ，Shen G ，Kuppu S ，Gaxiola R ，Payton P ... -  《-》

Heterologous expression of Arabidopsis H+-pyrophosphatase enhances salt tolerance in transgenic creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.).

Li Z ，Baldwin CM ，Hu Q ，Liu H ，Luo H ... -  《-》