PnLRR-RLK27, a novel leucine-rich repeats receptor-like protein kinase from the Antarctic moss Pohlia nutans, positively regulates salinity and oxidation-stress tolerance.

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Jing Wang, Shenghao Liu, Chengcheng Li, Tailin Wang, Pengying Zhang, Kaoshan Chen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017
• Subjects: Medicine; R; Science; Q; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172869; https://doaj.org/article/47826c0f292f434591d84db61cbdc123

Leucine-rich repeats receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) play important roles in plant growth and development as well as stress responses. Here, 56 LRR-RLK genes were identified in the Antarctic moss Pohlia nutans transcriptome, which were further classified into 11 subgroups based on their extracellular domain. Of them, PnLRR-RLK27 belongs to the LRR II subgroup and its expression was significantly induced by abiotic stresses. Subcellular localization analysis showed that PnLRR-RLK27 was a plasma membrane protein. The overexpression of PnLRR-RLK27 in Physcomitrella significantly enhanced the salinity and ABA tolerance in their gametophyte growth. Similarly, PnLRR-RLK27 heterologous expression in Arabidopsis increased the salinity and ABA tolerance in their seed germination and early root growth as well as the tolerance to oxidative stress. PnLRR-RLK27 overproduction in these transgenic plants increased the expression of salt stress/ABA-related genes. Furthermore, PnLRR-RLK27 increased the activities of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers and reduced the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and ROS. Taken together, these results suggested that PnLRR-RLK27 as a signaling regulator confer abiotic stress response associated with the regulation of the stress- and ABA-mediated signaling network.