Expression patterns of the poplar NF-Y gene family in response to Alternaria alternata and hormone treatment and the role of PdbNF-YA11 in disease resistance

• Published in: Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
• Main Authors: Ying Huang, Huijun Ma, Xiaodong Wang, Tianxiang Cui, Gang Han, Yu Zhang, Chao Wang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
• Subjects: poplar; NF-Y transcription factor; expression pattern; JA signal; disease resistance; Biotechnology; TP248.13-248.65; Orca
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.956271; https://doaj.org/article/30f21c1ab4a74c0087f9e2ee38a5d97e

Plant nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y) transcription factors (TFs) are key regulators of growth and stress resistance. However, the role of NF-Y TFs in poplar in response to biotic stress is still unclear. In this study, we cloned 26 PdbNF-Y encoding genes in the hybrid poplar P. davidiana × P. bollena, including 12 PdbNF-YAs, six PdbNF-YBs, and eight PdbNF-YCs. Their physical and chemical parameters, conserved domains, and phylogeny were subsequently analyzed. The protein–protein interaction (PPI) network showed that the three PdbNF-Y subunits may interact with NF-Y proteins belonging to two other subfamilies and other TFs. Tissue expression analysis revealed that PdbNF-Ys exhibited three distinct expression patterns in three tissues. Cis-elements related to stress-responsiveness were found in the promoters of PdbNF-Ys, and most PdbNF-Ys were shown to be differentially expressed under Alternaria alternata and hormone treatments. Compared with the PdbNF-YB and PdbNF-YC subfamilies, more PdbNF-YAs were significantly induced under the two treatments. Moreover, loss- and gain-of-function analyses showed that PdbNF-YA11 plays a positive role in poplar resistance to A. alternata. Additionally, RT‒qPCR analyses showed that overexpression and silencing PdbNF-YA11 altered the transcript levels of JA-related genes, including LOX, AOS, AOC, COI, JAZ, ORCA, and MYC, suggesting that PdbNF-YA11-mediated disease resistance is related to activation of the JA pathway. Our findings will contribute to functional analysis of NF-Y genes in woody plants, especially their roles in response to biotic stress.