ZmNAC55, a maize stress-responsive NAC transcription factor, confers drought resistance in transgenic Arabidopsis

• ZmNAC55 is a stress-responsive NAC transcription factor.
• ZmNAC55 functions in ABA signaling and confers the drought resistence of transgenic plants.
• ZmNAC55 regulates stress-responsive gene expression.

Abiotic stress has been shown to significantly limit the growth and productivity of crops. NAC transcription factors play essential roles in response to various abiotic stresses. However, only little information regarding stress-related NAC genes is available in maize. Here, we cloned a maize NAC transcription factor ZmNAC55 and identified its function in drought stress. Transient expression and transactivation assay demonstrated that ZmNAC55 was localized in the nucleus and had transactivation activity. Expression analysis of ZmNAC55 in maize showed that this gene was induced by drought, high salinity and cold stresses and by abscisic acid (ABA). Promoter analysis demonstrated that multiple stress-related cis-acting elements exist in promoter region of ZmNAC55. Overexpression of ZmNAC55 in Arabidopsis led to hypersensitivity to ABA at the germination stage, but enhanced drought resistence compared to wild-type seedlings. Transcriptome analysis identified a number of differentially expressed genes between 35S::ZmNAC55 transgenic and wild-type plants, and many of which are involved in stress response, including twelve qRT–PCR confirmed well-known drought-responsive genes. These results highlight the important role of ZmNAC55 in positive regulates of drought resistence, and may have potential applications in transgenic breeding of drought-tolerant crops.