Silencing of SLB3 Transcription Factor Reduces Salt Tolerance in Tomato

Soil salinity is one of the very important factors for plant growth. For now, the study of salt-tolerant plants has always been a cause for concern. BRI1-EMS-suppressor (BES1), as an important specific transcription factor in plants, is essential in brassinosteroid (BR) signaling. By regulating the expression of BR-responsive genes, BES1 is closely related to abiotic stress. In the study of resistance to salinity of tomato, virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) was performed on the SLB3 gene, which is from the BES1 transcription factor family. By reducing the expression of SLB3, it was observed whether the salt tolerance of the treated plants would change. The free proline (Pro) content and peroxidase (POD) activity were extremely lower in silenced experimental materials than the control seedlings. The content of active oxygen and malondialdehyde (MDA) and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were higher in silenced experimental materials than the control seedlings. The results showed that the expression level of SLB3 gene in the successfully silenced plants became lower, and the response of tomato to salt stress was correspondingly affected; the silenced tomato did not live well in the high salt treatment environment Overall, this article establishes a foundation for further research investigating the salt tolerance mechanism of the BES1 transcription factor and will help researchers understand the important role of transcription factors plant response to abiotic stress tolerance. (C) 2020 Friends Science Publishers