Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of NoNAC36a Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (Nasturtium officinale R.Br.)

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale R.Br.) is a cruciferous aquatic vegetable that possesses significant nutritional value. The NAC family is a transcription factor family specific to plants that play an important role in regulating plant responses to abiotic stress. In order to inv...

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Main Authors:	Qiang Ding, Jiajun Ran, Xiaoshan Chen, Zhanyuan Gao, Xiaojun Qian, Chenyang Zhang, Suchong Deng, Yunlou Shen, Yaolong Wang, Ying Li, Xilin Hou
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:	Horticulturae
Subjects:	watercress gene family flooding abiotic stress plant height increases
Online Access:	https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/10/11/1219
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author	Qiang Ding Jiajun Ran Xiaoshan Chen Zhanyuan Gao Xiaojun Qian Chenyang Zhang Suchong Deng Yunlou Shen Yaolong Wang Ying Li Xilin Hou
author_facet	Qiang Ding Jiajun Ran Xiaoshan Chen Zhanyuan Gao Xiaojun Qian Chenyang Zhang Suchong Deng Yunlou Shen Yaolong Wang Ying Li Xilin Hou
author_sort	Qiang Ding
collection	DOAJ
description	Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.) is a cruciferous aquatic vegetable that possesses significant nutritional value. The NAC family is a transcription factor family specific to plants that play an important role in regulating plant responses to abiotic stress. In order to investigate the response of NAC genes to flooding stress in watercress, we conducted a study on the <i>NoNAC</i> family. In this study, a total of 119 <i>NoNAC</i> genes were obtained through genome-wide identification. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the <i>NoNAC</i> family members can be categorized into ten subgroups. The results of gene structure analysis revealed that each branch within the subgroups exhibited similar motif composition and gene structure. The heatmap analysis showed that several <i>NoNAC</i> genes demonstrated tissue-specific expression patterns, suggesting their potential as regulators of associated tissue development. As an aquatic plant, watercress serves as a valuable material for investigating plant resistance to flooding stress. This study found that flooding can significantly increase the watercress plant height, which is a typical escape strategy under flooding. The analysis of the expression of <i>NoNAC</i> genes in the stem transcriptome after flooding indicated that only <i>NoNAC36a</i> consistently exhibited significant differential changes and down-regulated expression at the three time points of flooding treatment. This suggests that <i>NoNAC36a</i> may be involved in regulating watercress plant height increases under flooding stress. The utilization of a virus-induced gene silencing assay to investigate the biological function of <i>NoNAC36a</i> revealed that <i>NoNAC36a</i> silencing caused cell elongation and expansion, thus increasing watercress plant height. The yeast one-hybrid and dual luciferase assays demonstrated that NoNAC36a binds the promoter of <i>NoXTH33</i> and inhibits its expression. Subsequently, the results of yeast two-hybrid, luciferase complementary, and pull-down assays revealed the interaction between NoMOB1A and NoNAC36a in vivo and in vitro. Sequence alignment indicated that NoMOB1A and AtMOB1A share an identical amino acid sequence. RT-qPCR analysis indicated that flooding prompted the expression of <i>NoMOB1A</i> in stems. Thus, it is speculated that <i>NoMOB1A</i> may exhibit functions similar to <i>AtMOB1A</i> and that the up-regulation of <i>NoMOB1A</i> expression in stems may facilitate an increase in plant height under flooding. In summary, the <i>NoNAC</i> family was analyzed, and revealed a regulatory network centered on <i>NoNAC36a</i> that facilitates watercress resistance to flooding stress. This study enhanced the understanding of the <i>NoNAC</i> genes and established a theoretical foundation for investigating plant flooding tolerance.
format	Article
id	doaj-art-e9db46ff89ca485c9a982cd5d10e644e
institution	OA Journals
issn	2311-7524
language	English
publishDate	2024-11-01
publisher	MDPI AG
record_format	Article
series	Horticulturae
spelling	doaj-art-e9db46ff89ca485c9a982cd5d10e644e2025-08-20T02:28:10ZengMDPI AGHorticulturae2311-75242024-11-011011121910.3390/horticulturae10111219Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of <i>NoNAC36a</i> Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.)Qiang Ding0Jiajun Ran1Xiaoshan Chen2Zhanyuan Gao3Xiaojun Qian4Chenyang Zhang5Suchong Deng6Yunlou Shen7Yaolong Wang8Ying Li9Xilin Hou10State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaWatercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.) is a cruciferous aquatic vegetable that possesses significant nutritional value. The NAC family is a transcription factor family specific to plants that play an important role in regulating plant responses to abiotic stress. In order to investigate the response of NAC genes to flooding stress in watercress, we conducted a study on the <i>NoNAC</i> family. In this study, a total of 119 <i>NoNAC</i> genes were obtained through genome-wide identification. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the <i>NoNAC</i> family members can be categorized into ten subgroups. The results of gene structure analysis revealed that each branch within the subgroups exhibited similar motif composition and gene structure. The heatmap analysis showed that several <i>NoNAC</i> genes demonstrated tissue-specific expression patterns, suggesting their potential as regulators of associated tissue development. As an aquatic plant, watercress serves as a valuable material for investigating plant resistance to flooding stress. This study found that flooding can significantly increase the watercress plant height, which is a typical escape strategy under flooding. The analysis of the expression of <i>NoNAC</i> genes in the stem transcriptome after flooding indicated that only <i>NoNAC36a</i> consistently exhibited significant differential changes and down-regulated expression at the three time points of flooding treatment. This suggests that <i>NoNAC36a</i> may be involved in regulating watercress plant height increases under flooding stress. The utilization of a virus-induced gene silencing assay to investigate the biological function of <i>NoNAC36a</i> revealed that <i>NoNAC36a</i> silencing caused cell elongation and expansion, thus increasing watercress plant height. The yeast one-hybrid and dual luciferase assays demonstrated that NoNAC36a binds the promoter of <i>NoXTH33</i> and inhibits its expression. Subsequently, the results of yeast two-hybrid, luciferase complementary, and pull-down assays revealed the interaction between NoMOB1A and NoNAC36a in vivo and in vitro. Sequence alignment indicated that NoMOB1A and AtMOB1A share an identical amino acid sequence. RT-qPCR analysis indicated that flooding prompted the expression of <i>NoMOB1A</i> in stems. Thus, it is speculated that <i>NoMOB1A</i> may exhibit functions similar to <i>AtMOB1A</i> and that the up-regulation of <i>NoMOB1A</i> expression in stems may facilitate an increase in plant height under flooding. In summary, the <i>NoNAC</i> family was analyzed, and revealed a regulatory network centered on <i>NoNAC36a</i> that facilitates watercress resistance to flooding stress. This study enhanced the understanding of the <i>NoNAC</i> genes and established a theoretical foundation for investigating plant flooding tolerance.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/10/11/1219watercressgene familyfloodingabiotic stressplant height increases
spellingShingle	Qiang Ding Jiajun Ran Xiaoshan Chen Zhanyuan Gao Xiaojun Qian Chenyang Zhang Suchong Deng Yunlou Shen Yaolong Wang Ying Li Xilin Hou Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of <i>NoNAC36a</i> Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.) Horticulturae watercress gene family flooding abiotic stress plant height increases
title	Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of <i>NoNAC36a</i> Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.)
title_full	Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of <i>NoNAC36a</i> Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.)
title_fullStr	Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of <i>NoNAC36a</i> Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.)
title_full_unstemmed	Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of <i>NoNAC36a</i> Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.)
title_short	Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of <i>NoNAC36a</i> Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.)
title_sort	identification of the nac family and a functional analysis of i nonac36a i under flooding stress in watercress i nasturtium officinale i r br
topic	watercress gene family flooding abiotic stress plant height increases
url	https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/10/11/1219
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Identification of the NAC Family and a Functional Analysis of <i>NoNAC36a</i> Under Flooding Stress in Watercress (<i>Nasturtium officinale</i> R.Br.)

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