A GWAS-identified U-box E3 ligase MsPUB6 is positively regulated by MsDREB1C and contributes to drought tolerance in alfalfa

Clicks: 18
ID: 328534
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #354 of 650 articles by views in Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 650 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
U-box-type E3 ubiquitin ligases (PUBs) are critical for signaling homeostasis and abiotic stress responses via substrate ubiquitination, yet their upstream transcriptional regulation remains largely unexplored, especially in alfalfa drought adaptation. Through GWAS of 171 alfalfa accessions, we identified a novel U-box gene, MsPUB6, on chromosome 3, which encodes a protein with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and is induced by drought, cold, salt, and ABA. Overexpression and virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) revealed that MsPUB6 positively regulates drought tolerance by enhancing antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT), reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and maintaining chlorophyll content and leaf water content. Further mechanistic investigation showed that the transcription factor MsDREB1C specifically binds to the CRT/DRE element in the MsPUB6 promoter and activates its transcription. CRISPR-Cas9-mediated MsDREB1C mutants exhibited a drought-sensitive phenotype similar to that of MsPUB6-silenced lines, accompanied by significantly reduced MsPUB6 expression. In contrast, MsDREB1C-overexpressing lines showed enhanced drought tolerance and upregulated MsPUB6 expression, and similarly promoted drought tolerance by alleviating oxidative damage and membrane damage, and by maintaining chlorophyll content and relative leaf water content. Collectively, this study reveals a novel regulatory module, MsDREB1C-MsPUB6, in which a DREB1 transcription factor positively regulates a U-box-type E3 ligase gene to contribute to drought tolerance in alfalfa. These findings not only provide important genetic resources for molecular breeding of drought-tolerant alfalfa but also expand our understanding of the functional diversity of plant U-box proteins.
Reference Key
openalex_W7212293805 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Yangyang Zhang, Xueqian Jiang, Huajuan Leng, Tian Zhang, Jing Cui, Ying Dong, Qingchuan Yang, Tiejun Zhang, Junmei Kang
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/plphys/kiag679
URL
https://academic.oup.com/plphys/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/plphys/kiag679/71032144/kiag679.pdf
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.