A Soybean Sucrose Non-Fermenting Protein Kinase 1 Gene, GmSNF1 , Positively Regulates Plant Response to Salt and Salt-Alkali Stress in Transgenic Plants.

Soybean is one of the most widely grown oilseed crops worldwide. Several unfavorable factors, including salt and salt-alkali stress caused by soil salinization, affect soybean yield and quality. Therefore, exploring the molecular basis of salt tolerance in plants and developing genetic resources for genetic breeding is important. Sucrose non-fermentable protein kinase 1 (SnRK1) belongs to a class of Ser/Thr protein kinases that are evolutionarily highly conserved direct homologs of yeast SNF1 and animal AMPKs and are involved in various abiotic stresses in plants. The gene was experimentally shown to be involved with salinity tolerance. First, using the yeast two-hybrid technique and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) technique, the GmSNF1 protein was shown to interact with the GmPKS4 protein. Second, the gene responded positively to salt and salt-alkali stress according to qRT-PCR analysis, and the GmSNF1 protein was localized in the nucleus and cytoplasm using subcellular localization assay. The gene was then heterologously expressed in yeast, and the gene was tentatively identified as having salt and salt-alkali tolerance function. Finally, the salt-alkali tolerance function of the gene was demonstrated by transgenic , soybean hairy root complex plants overexpressing and gene-silenced soybean using VIGS. These results indicated that might be useful in genetic engineering to improve plant salt and salt-alkali tolerance.