Expression of the Amorphophallus albus heat stress transcription factor AaHsfA1 enhances tolerance to environmental stresses in Arabidopsis

Amorphophallus is the only economic crop that can produce a large amount of glucomannan (KGM). However, heat stress can induce a variety of morphological and physiological changes in Amorphophallus, which also affects its growth, development, nutrition, and economic value. Heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs), as central regulators of the heat stress response, play a key role in protecting plants against heat stress and in regulating plant development. In this study, the AaHsfA1 gene was obtained from Amorphophallus albus, and sequence analysis confirmed that it was a typical class A Hsf. The qRT-PCR results demonstrated that AaHsfA1 was significantly upregulated in different tissues of Amorphophallus albus after heat stress. Meanwhile, allogenic transformation showed that AaHsfA1 could significantly improve the heat resistance of Arabidopsis under heat stress. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that AaHsfA1 localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm. Protein-protein interaction studies identified a direct interaction between AaHsfA1 and AaHsfA2a, AaHsfA1 and AaHsp70, but AaHsfA1 did not interact with AaHsfB1. In conclusion, this study provides theoretical and genetic references for analyzing the mechanism of Amorphophallus heat resistance formation and crop resistance breeding. • The function of AaHsfA1 was firstly analyzed and identified. • Overexpression of AaHsfA1 improves resistance to high temperature in transgenic Arabidopsis . • AaHSFA1 can interact with AaHSFA2a and AaHSP70 in vitro. • This research contributes to improve yield of konjac glucomannan.