Overexpression of Pp14-3-3 from Pyrus Pyrifolia Fruit Increases Drought and Salt Tolerance in Transgenic Tobacco Plant

Drought and salinity are major abiotic stresses which reduce agricultural productivity. In plants, 14-3-3s participate in the molecular networks of defense response and function in protecting plant cells from damages under adverse environment conditions. In the present study, a 14-3-3 gene from fruit of Pyrus pyrifolia driven by CaMV 35S promoter was transformed into tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Xanthi), and overexpression of Pp14-3-3 improved drought and NaCl tolerance in T1 generation transgenic plants. Under drought and NaCl stresses, the Pp14-3-3 was largely expressed in T1 transgenic tobacco lines. In addition, the T1 transgenic lines showed increased antioxidant activity according to the decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and slower superoxide anion production rate compared with WT. Moreover, as a component of plant antioxidant system, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity in T1 transgenic lines were evidently higher than that in WT. The results of present study suggested that Pp14-3-3 should be involved in reducing oxidative damage caused by drought and salt stresses.