大豆是重要的经济作物，是人类食用油脂和蛋白及动物饲料的重要来源。然而，目前在响应其对非生物胁迫的分子调控机制的研究领域仍然存在较大空白。日前，中科院遗传发育所在大豆调控抗盐耐旱的分子机制方面取得进展，相关成果发表于《The Plant Journal》。

此前，中科院遗传发育所的科研人员已经在前期研究中鉴定出一系列能够响应逆境胁迫的转录因子。此次研究利用转化大豆毛状根的实验体系，对其中筛选到的WRKY27蛋白进行了更深入研究。分析结果表明，WRKY27能够受多种非生物胁迫的诱导并能显著提高大豆对干旱和盐胁迫的适应性。同时，该研究通过一系列生化实验分析，鉴定出WRKY27的互作蛋白MYB174。研究进一步发现，WRKY27与MYB174 在植物体内能够通过相互作用并结合特定的DNA序列，从而精确调控大豆对干旱和盐等非生物胁迫的响应。

该研究通过研究两种不同转录因子之间的相互作用，对大豆等模式作物在逆境胁迫的分子机制方面提供了一个新的研究角度。（来源：中国科学报 彭科峰）

GmWRKY27 interacts with GmMYB174 to reduce expression of GmNAC29 for stress tolerance in soybean plants

Abstract  Soybean (Glycine max) is an important crop for oil and protein resources worldwide. The molecular mechanism of the abiotic stress response in soybean is largely unclear. We previously identified multiple stress-responsive WRKY genes from soybean. Here, we further characterized the roles of one of these genes, GmWRKY27, in abiotic stress tolerance using a transgenic hairy root assay. GmWRKY27 expression was increased by various abiotic stresses. Over-expression and RNAi analysis demonstrated that GmWRKY27 improves salt and drought tolerance in transgenic soybean hairy roots. Measurement of physiological parameters, including reactive oxygen species and proline contents, supported this conclusion. GmWRKY27 inhibits expression of a downstream gene GmNAC29 by binding to the W–boxes in its promoter region. The GmNAC29 is a negative factor of stress tolerance as indicated by the performance of transgenic hairy roots under stress. GmWRKY27 interacts with GmMYB174, which also suppresses GmNAC29 expression and enhances drought stress tolerance. The GmWRKY27 and GmMYB174 may have evolved to bind to neighbouring cis elements in the GmNAC29 promoter to co-reduce promoter activity and gene expression. Our study discloses a valuable mechanism in soybean for regulation of the stress response by two associated transcription factors. Manipulation of these genes should facilitate improvements in stress tolerance in soybean and other crops.

原文链接：http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tpj.12879/pdf