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Expression Analysis of AUX/IAA Family Genes in Apple Under Salt Stress

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Abstract

Members of the auxin/indoleacetic acid (Aux/IAA) gene family in plants are primary auxin-responsive genes that play important roles in many aspects of plant development and in responses to abiotic stress. Recently, 33 Aux/IAA have been identified in the apple genome. The biological responses of MdIAAs to salt stress are still unknown. In this study, Malus zumi, Malus baccata, and Malus × domestica ‘Fuji’ plantlets were subjected to salt stress by supplementing hydroponic media with NaCl at various concentrations. M. zumi showed the strongest salt resistance, followed by ‘Fuji’, and M. baccata was the most sensitive to salt stress. Tissue-specific expression profiles of MdIAAs were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. When apple plantlets were subjected to salt stress, most of salt-responsive MdIAAs were up-regulated by 1 h, 3 h, and 6 h in roots, shoot tips, and leaves, respectively. Highly expressed MdIAAs in roots, especially for M. zumi, consisted with the salt tolerance of apple rootstocks. Transgenic apple calli were tolerant to salt stress when over-expressed salt-responsive genes, MdIAA8, -9, and -25. These results provide clues about salt resistance in these three Malus species, which helps apple breeding of salt tolerance by genetic transformation.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support of this work was from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 31672109). The authors are grateful to Dr. Miaoyu Song for providing Orin calli. We thank Jennifer Smith, PhD, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Pomology, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Yuanmingyuan West Road No. 2, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Yongzhou Li, Limin Wang, Boyang Yu, Jing Guo, Yanan Zhao & Yuandi Zhu

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  1. Yongzhou Li
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  2. Limin Wang
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  3. Boyang Yu
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Li, Y., Wang, L., Yu, B. et al. Expression Analysis of AUX/IAA Family Genes in Apple Under Salt Stress. Biochem Genet 60, 1205–1221 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-021-10158-4

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