Arabidopsis thaliana Plants’ Overexpression of the MYB Transcription Factor VhMYB60 in the Face of Stress Hazards Enhances Salt and Cold Tolerance

Chen, Zhe; Wang, Jinghan; Li, Wenhui; Chen, Xiang; Zhao, Changjia; Guo, Yanbo; Li, Yingnan; Chen, Zhuo; Li, Xingguo; Han, Deguo

doi:10.3390/ijms26041695

Open AccessArticle

Arabidopsis thaliana Plants’ Overexpression of the MYB Transcription Factor VhMYB60 in the Face of Stress Hazards Enhances Salt and Cold Tolerance

by

Zhe Chen

^†,

Jinghan Wang

^†,

Wenhui Li

,

Xiang Chen

,

Changjia Zhao

,

Yanbo Guo

,

Yingnan Li

,

Zhuo Chen

,

Xingguo Li

^* and

Deguo Han

^*

Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Northeast Region), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Development and Utilization of Small Fruits in Cold Regions, College of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(4), 1695; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26041695

Submission received: 21 December 2024 / Revised: 19 January 2025 / Accepted: 13 February 2025 / Published: 17 February 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plant Stress Tolerance: 2nd Edition)

Download

Browse Figures

Versions Notes

Abstract

‘Beta’ (Vitisriparia × V. labrusca) is a vine fruit tree of the genus Vitis which is a cross between American and riparian grapes. In the current situation of grape production in northern regions, cold, drought, and salinity are important bottlenecks restricting its development, while some grape rootstocks with excellent traits show the disadvantage of poor resilience. ‘Beta’ (Vitis riparia × V. labrusca), one of the most extensively utilized rootstocks in viticulture, has demonstrated remarkable resilience to adverse conditions. However, the mechanisms by which ‘Beta’ rootstocks resist abiotic stresses are unknown and need to be further investigated. In this study, we successfully isolated and cloned a novel MYB transcription factor, VhMYB60, from the ‘Beta’ grapevine. This factor spans 972 base pairs and encodes a protein comprising 323 amino acids. Subcellular localization studies revealed that VhMYB60 is predominantly expressed within the nucleus. Furthermore, tissue-specific expression analysis demonstrated that VhMYB60 is more abundantly expressed in the mature leaves and roots of the grape plant. Further studies showed that salt and cold stress notably increased VhMYB60 gene expression in both mature leaves and grape roots. Compared with the control, Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) plants molecularly modified to overexpress VhMYB60 exhibited enhanced salt and cold resistance and improved survival rates. Moreover, notable changes were detected in chlorophyll, malondialdehyde (MDA), proline, peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. Concurrently, the expression levels of structural genes that are positively correlated with resistance to adversity stress were markedly elevated in Arabidopsis plants that overexpress VhMYB60. Consequently, VhMYB60 may serve as a pivotal transcription factor in the regulation of ‘Beta’ resistance.

Keywords: grapes; VhMYB60; salinity and chilly stress; transcriptional regulation; Arabidopsis thaliana

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Chen, Z.; Wang, J.; Li, W.; Chen, X.; Zhao, C.; Guo, Y.; Li, Y.; Chen, Z.; Li, X.; Han, D. Arabidopsis thaliana Plants’ Overexpression of the MYB Transcription Factor VhMYB60 in the Face of Stress Hazards Enhances Salt and Cold Tolerance. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26, 1695. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26041695

AMA Style

Chen Z, Wang J, Li W, Chen X, Zhao C, Guo Y, Li Y, Chen Z, Li X, Han D. Arabidopsis thaliana Plants’ Overexpression of the MYB Transcription Factor VhMYB60 in the Face of Stress Hazards Enhances Salt and Cold Tolerance. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2025; 26(4):1695. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26041695

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chen, Zhe, Jinghan Wang, Wenhui Li, Xiang Chen, Changjia Zhao, Yanbo Guo, Yingnan Li, Zhuo Chen, Xingguo Li, and Deguo Han. 2025. "Arabidopsis thaliana Plants’ Overexpression of the MYB Transcription Factor VhMYB60 in the Face of Stress Hazards Enhances Salt and Cold Tolerance" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 26, no. 4: 1695. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26041695

APA Style

Chen, Z., Wang, J., Li, W., Chen, X., Zhao, C., Guo, Y., Li, Y., Chen, Z., Li, X., & Han, D. (2025). Arabidopsis thaliana Plants’ Overexpression of the MYB Transcription Factor VhMYB60 in the Face of Stress Hazards Enhances Salt and Cold Tolerance. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 26(4), 1695. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26041695

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Arabidopsis thaliana Plants’ Overexpression of the MYB Transcription Factor VhMYB60 in the Face of Stress Hazards Enhances Salt and Cold Tolerance

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI