Genome-wide analysis of AP2/ERF genes identifies HpERF144 as a regulator of salt tolerance and phenylpropanoid metabolism in Herpetospermum pedunculosum

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ID: 321596
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Salt stress disrupts plant physiology and reprograms specialized metabolism. APETALA2/ethylene-responsive factor (AP2/ERF) transcription factors integrate stress and hormone signals, but their roles in linking salt tolerance with phenylpropanoid metabolism in non-model alpine plants remain poorly understood. Here, we performed a genome-wide survey of AP2/ERF genes and functionally characterized a salt-responsive ERF in Herpetospermum pedunculosum. We identified 147 HpAP2/ERF genes, whose promoters were enriched in hormone- and stress-responsive cis-elements. Salt treatment induced widespread expression changes of HpAP2/ERF genes in roots, with HpERF144 among the most rapidly and strongly up-regulated members. Virus-induced silencing and ZYMV-mediated overexpression in H. pedunculosum, together with heterologous overexpression in Nicotiana tabacum, showed that HpERF144 positively regulates salt tolerance by modulating oxidative stress-related physiological responses. Moreover, HpERF144 silencing reduced, whereas overexpression increased, total lignin and total lignan accumulation in roots under salt stress. DAP-seq and dual-luciferase assays further indicated that HpERF144 associates with and activates selected phenylpropanoid- and cell wall-related promoters, including 4CL- and CCR-like targets. These findings identify HpERF144 as a link between salt stress signaling and phenylpropanoid-associated metabolic regulation in a lignan-rich medicinal plant.
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openalex_W7169720932 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Rui Li, Daihan Chen, Zhidan Zhu, Xiao Huang, Xinghui Wu, Qin Jiang, Qi Li, Shiyu Yao, Ziwei Zhu, Yixi Yang, Qiuxia Lu, Xu Zhang, Bingliang Liu, Min Sun, Qi Zhao, Tao Yang
Journal plant and cell physiology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/pcp/pcag103
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