Genome-wide identification of HDAC members and function analysis of PnHDT1/2 in salt stress response in Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene

Reversible histone acetylation and deacetylation play an essential role in regulating chromatin structure and gene expression. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) catalyze the removal of acetyl groups from lysine residues of core histones, resulting in closed chromatin structure and transcription repression. Although the HDCAs have been extensively studied in model plants, the HDAC members have not been identified in Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene (P. nodiflora), a salt-tolerant plant species. Here, 17 PnHDAC genes were identified in the genome of P. nodiflora. Phylogenetic analysis displayed that the PnHDACs were classified into three groups, the RPD3/HDA1-group (11 members), the SIR2-group (2 members) and the plant-specific HD2-group (4 members). Transcription analysis displayed that the gene expression patterns of PnHDACs were affected by salt stress in P. nodiflora seedlings. PnHDT1 and PnHDT2, two HD2-type HDAC proteins were found to be subcellular localized in the nucleolus. Furthermore, overexpressing PnHDT1 and PnHDT2 in Arabidopsis decreased the sensitivity to plant hormone abscisic acid whereas reduced the tolerance to salt stress during seed germination and seedling stages. Overall, our work identified the PnHDAC gene family for the first time in P. nodiflora and revealed an involvement of PnHDT1 and PnHDT2 in salt stress tolerance, which may contribute to uncover the mechanism of P. nodiflora in adaption to salt environments.