Functional analysis of quinoa NAC transcription factor CqNAC66 in response to drought and salt stress

doi:10.11686/cyxb2025088

Abstract

Abstract:

This research explored the function of quinoa （Chenopodium quinoa） NAC family member， CqNAC66 involved in drought resistance and salt tolerance. CqNAC66 was subcellularly localized in this study， and transgenic lines of Nicotiana benthamiana overexpressing CqNAC66 were obtained to compare the morphological and physiological responses of wild-type （WT） and transgenic plants after exposure to drought （20% PEG-6000） and salt （200 mmol·L^-1 NaCl） stress. The results showed that CqNAC66 protein was subcellularly localized in the nucleus. Overexpression of CqNAC66 significantly decreased the water loss rates of excised leaves of tobacco plants. Under drought and salt stress treatment， overexpression of CqNAC66 in tobacco plants significantly decreased the leaf wilting index， and significantly increased the leaf surface area and aboveground fresh weight. In addition， overexpression of CqNAC66 significantly increased the relative content of chlorophyll （SPAD） and the activities of peroxidase， and significantly decreased the content of malondialdehyde in leaves of the studied tobacco plants. In conclusion， the heterologous expression of CqNAC66 in N. benthamiana improved the drought and salt tolerance of plants and CqNAC66 appeared to improve the resistance of transgenic tobacco by maintaining the stability of chlorophyll， regulating the plant antioxidant enzyme system and alleviating the cellular oxidative damage caused by stress.

Key words: quinoa, CqNAC66, drought resistance, salt tolerance, functional verification

Feng LI, Xu-hu GUO, Hui-fen CAO, Xiang-rui KONG, Dong-xue YANG, Dong-xu ZHANG, Yong-fang ZHANG. Functional analysis of quinoa NAC transcription factor CqNAC66 in response to drought and salt stress[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2026, 35(8): 170-181.

Figures/Tables 9

Table 1 Primer sequences used in this study

名称Name	序列Sequences （5′-3′）	用途 Purposes
CqNAC66-F₁	TCGCAAGACCCTTCCTCTAT	CqNAC66转基因烟草PCR鉴定PCR identification of CqNAC66 transgenic tobacco plants
CqNAC66-R₁	CGTGACCCGTTTGGGTATTT
β-actin-F	CTCCGTCTTGACTTGGCAGG	CqNAC66转基因烟草qPCR鉴定 qPCR identification of CqNAC66 transgenic tobacco plants
β-actin-R	ACAATTTCCCGCTCAGCTGA
CqNAC66-F₂	GAGTGCGGCAAAGCCTACAA
CqNAC66-R₂	ACCCGGTAAAGGCGAATTCA
CqNAC66-EGFP-F	CATTTGGAGAGGACACGCATGGGAGTTCAAGAGAAAGATCC	克隆CqNAC66 Cloning of CqNAC66
CqNAC66-EGFP-R	TCGCCCTTGCTCACCATGAACTGTCTGTATCCGTATCCGAAT	克隆CqNAC66 Cloning of CqNAC66

Fig. 1 Grading of wilting degree of tobacco plants

Fig.2 Vector construction of pCAM-CqNAC66-EGFP and transformation of A. tumefaciens GV3101

Fig.3 Subcellular localization of CqNAC66

Fig.4 Vector construction for CqNAC66 overexpression and CqNAC66 transformation of tobacco

Fig.5 The molecular identification of CqNAC66 transgenic tobacco plants

Fig.6 Phenotypes of wild type （WT） and CqNAC66 transgenic tobacco lines under drought and salt stress treatment

Fig.7 Changes of morphological indices of wild type （WT） and CqNAC66 transgenic tobacco lines under drought and salt stress treatment

Fig.8 Changes of physiological indices of wild type （WT） and CqNAC66 transgenic tobacco lines under drought and salt stress treatment

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